Rite of Slumber, Part Two: Ign Saradorn
by KoshKing777
Summary: An AR TONELICO fanfic the sequel to Rite of Slumber 1. Rated T for strong violence and innuendo. Lyner and his friends are now stranded on a massive, mystical tower, plagued with troubles and hulking titans. Many revelations await!
1. Cursed Sight

Author's Note: Firstly, thanks for all the great reviews, Kojiros! I also hope everyone who likes Ar Tonelico gets a chance to read this and give their thoughts on it. By the way, I have no ownership over the characters or world of Ar Tonelico.

If you haven't read the first part of Rite of Slumber, this may not make ANY sense. You should probably go back and read it; but if you're too lazy, and also in review, just know that Lyner and the gang have just survived a freak encounter with the menacing Reyvateil monster Mimas, but the battle has left them all (but Shurelia and Luke) blinded in both eyes. They have also happened upon another secret tower, Ign Saradorn, where multiple magical civilizations reside. Lyner and the gang have multiple objectives at this point, mainly: destroy all 5 Quiad Reyvateils (giant space station monsters made entirely of song magic), retrieve the Severed Serpent relic from the hands of an army of two-headed minotaurs, rescue the powerful songstress Mir, bring to justice the assassin of the former Tenba president, and possibly find a cure for Aurica's impending death. As you can see, Lyner, Shurelia, and everyone else have a BUNCH of work to do.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely, explicitly, no stake in the Ar tonelico franchise….nor any steak. :(

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 17: Cursed Sight

That feeling of sick despair in the depths of his throat had finally started to wane.

Lyner sat in utter darkness on what he supposed was a discarded wheel in Luke's trashed workshop. Having already made the painful mistake of touching his eye-slits, Lyner was forced to concentrate on either his other senses or Shurelia to get around. Fortunately his only goal on the moment was to merely sit in the vicinity of Luke's makeshift diving machine housing Vincent and the utterly gorgeous Mahine. The high-ranking Tenba scientist and his standard-issue Reyvateil were currently working on a spell that would grant the party sight, which is understandably an extremely useful advantage in battle.

Personally Lyner had doubts that Vincent, who had at times proven himself not entirely reliable, would be able to pull off such a drastic feat. Lyner realized that he had never seen someone dive before, being an avid diver himself, so he reached over and happened to feel a female pair of legs. "Uh, Shurelia?" he asked with a stone cold expression. The loss of sight had been plenty to lower his spirits lately.

"No, it's me!" Aurica said surprisingly cheerfully for someone whose beauty was forever marred due to the ugly pink gash across her face. "How are you doing?"

Lyner made a noncommittal noise through his nose. "I was just wondering if people's expressions change in the outside world when they're diving?"

"No, they stay the same," Aurica said with a trace of amusement lining her voice. "I really wish I could see Vincent, what with all those streams of water brushing against every curve of his body…he's so hot!" she sighed.

This naturally pissed off Lyner, who narrowed his eyebrows accordingly. Deciding on the spot to get her back for all the times she had complimented Vincent, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, _I_ wish I could see _Mahine_ right now; oh man, I bet her kimono's flying all over the place from the water, and, uh…um…I can see her breasts! Ha-ha-ha, that would be so GOOD!" He smiled, for the first time since they made it to the workshop.

"Uh…Lyner, you do realize all of our clothes got destroyed in the battle with Mimas, right?" Aurica said smartly, causing Lyner to curse and strike himself hard on the calf.

Lyner suddenly got an idea. "Hey Shurelia? Are you here?"

"Yep, and might I just comment that all of you look uglier than Bourd right now!" the Tower Administrator said cheerfully.

"Thanks, thanks," Lyner said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was going to suggest, do you want to go look around for a clothing store now? We might as well do something useful."

"Okay!" Shurelia said excitedly, standing up. "Everyone come up and touch me, and I'll lead us to some clothes store somewhere!"

"Alright," her downtrodden audience said, (with the exception of Jack, who said it quite giddily) and she was treated to a variety of hands touching her.

"Oh my!" she giggled, rearranging a few of the hands so they were placed in less invasive parts of her body.

"Just go already, Shurelia!" Misha commanded, and Shurelia proudly led the caravan of heroes out into the blistering sunlight.

"Happy stealing!" Lyner heard Luke call after the party, evidently remaining behind to operate the dive system.

"Just holler when they come out!" Lyner called back, and turned his attention back to following Shurelia.

"Hahaha, you said 'come out…'" Jack laughed.

"Hmm…" Shurelia said as she carried the party aimlessly down the dusty streets. "This city is so incredible! I've never seen a place look so alive and yet have no activity at the same time!"

"That's probably because most cities have people in them," Ayatane said snidely from somewhere very close to Lyner.

Remembering he was naked, Lyner edged away a bit so as to not touch the samurai. "Any luck finding a place?" he asked his girlfriend.

"Nah, everything around here just looks like government buildings, like libraries and courthouses and stuff like that."

"Well, hurry up and get us out of this!" Radolf whined, his voice cracking a little. "I am SO tired of feeling dirty!"

A sudden smack was heard, followed by Radolf yelping. "Wh-who the hell just smacked my butt?"

No one answered, but Lyner laughed, "Ha-ha-ha, bet you feel dirty now, Radolf!"

"YOU!! You did this!" Radolf snarled. "I always knew there was something wrong with you! If I had my spear, I'd run you through on the spot!"

"Radolf!!! Cool down!" Aurica yelled at him. "Stop being so stressed out. Everything's going to work out soon, trust me!"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid or something!!!" Radolf bellowed and bolted away from the group, followed by a loud impact and an "Oof!" coming from the fallen Archbishop. Lyner could barely hear him start whimpering and sniffing by himself.

"Er…guess we'll have to come back for him," Jack said.

"Oops. I guess I probably shouldn't have slapped his ass?" Ayatane said a bit drunkenly. Everyone laughed but Lyner. He wondered if anyone else had seen Ayatane's flagrant advances towards him on the beach when everyone was under Mimas's influence. Was there some base for his actions? Aurica and Vincent certainly did appear to have feelings for each other, after all. Lyner's throat suddenly felt a little acidic, a feeling he couldn't swallow down.

Instead, he decided to break the silence that had now descended on the group. "So what exactly happened here? Why are all the villagers in an underground prison?" he asked the people who had been separated from him and Shurelia.

"Well, it would probably be best to ask Luke, since he could see throughout the whole thing," Misha said to him, from somewhere far away in placement around the circle. Her voice resonated with something hungry to stir deep inside Lyner, however, and he suddenly wished he was right next to her. "But apparently, the festival was run on psychotropic drugs of some kind, and Luke somehow jacked up the way things were supposed to be, and everyone committed suicide, or at least tried to. But you said they're still alive?" she continued politely, never one to flirt with him in front of everyone else like Aurica and Shurelia.

"Y-yeah," Lyner said, struggling to return to reality from his futile attempts to recall what Misha looked like naked. "Everyone's still…alive."

"And kicking," Shurelia said with a giggle. She and Lyner went on to explain where they were whisked off to when the group separated (with Shurelia spending an uncomfortable amount of time going in detail about her goings-on with Lyner inside of Mimas's skull, a topic that caused Aurica to stiffen tremendously beside him, after which he patted her consolingly on the arm) and both Mimas's death and the sentence that the Love Goddess placed on the villagers (Luke was currently keeping Mimas's corpse until Vincent was in the proper state to analyze it).

"Oh, hey, that kinda looks like an armory over there!" Shurelia said, interrupting Lyner as he was talking about how he drew his new sword out of a giant hand.

"I heard that!" Radolf exclaimed happily from behind them, causing everyone to jump.

"Wait; you were following us the entire time?" Ayatane asked with trepidation.

"Yessss…" Radolf said in a low voice. "And you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves for acting so…immoral!"

Everyone snorted at this, and the group allowed Shurelia to take them into the armory. Once inside, Lyner heard a bouncy tune playing over a sound system, one detailing an odd account of the story of a moose named Jimmy Jack. "Hmm, they must have left the shop open while they went to watch the parade," Jack commented.

"Sweet, so; are there clothes here!?" Radolf cried out in desperation.

"Yes, you'll be thankful, there are plenty of great clothes here! And weapons too," Shurelia said with a roll of her eyes. "Now; who wants their outfit picked out for them first! Of the guys, mind you, since you girls are still clothed in your Dress Songs."

"Oooh, ME! Pick me!" Radolf exploded out.

"I said, 'not a girl,'" Shurelia reminded him wryly, eliciting a 'huh?' from Radolf.

"Well personally, I'm in no rush to get clothed," Jack said lazily.

"Hey, yeah, I like being naked too," Ayatane said from next to him. "…DUDE!!!" they exclaimed nudging each other with camaraderie.

"TRUST me, you guys aren't going to be picking up any chicks anytime soon while you're naked," Misha said.

"I couldn't agree more," Shurelia said happily. "If I have to look at your naked skeletons any longer, I think I'm going to have to kill myself! Now come on up here, Jack, I'll pick something out for you!"

"This isn't going to be good, I can tell," Jack grumbled as he got up and walked blindly over to Lyner's girlfriend as he and Radolf chuckled to themselves.

* * *

(_In Mahine's Soulspace_) 

As Vincent arrived in what he took to be Mahine's Soulspace, he was immediately put on guard. Her mind was not like any other Omega Reyvateils' he had visited. Instead of a wide spectrum of black nothingness, Vincent was greeted by a very dark underground river of some kind. He was standing on the only dry ground in sight, that of a wholly-moss covered stone erection out of the tumultuous sea beneath him.

Vincent looked up at the only source of light, an unsettling Latin inscription in the arched ceiling, glowing with a murky teal color. He wasn't able to read Latin, but the inscription read quite clearly, "Obscurum mos cado in suus lux lucis."

Both ways up and down the stone tunnel were enshrouded in darkness, so Vincent decided to study the black water below him for signs of life. He hated the water; you never knew what could jump out of it and attack you!

"Mahine?" he asked quietly. Something was off. Why didn't she have an empty cosmosphere? Perhaps she wasn't an Omega after all?

He heard a leathery laugh belt out behind him. Shocked, Vincent stood up and spun around, nearly losing his balance and plunging into the sea below. He was in for another shock though when he saw what was observing him. There, plastered on the wall was the disembodied, bloody, and distorted head of a Cyclops with two massive elephant tusks.

"Ha-ha-ha," the face laughed slowly. "Do you not know me?"

"Uhhhhm, should I?" Vincent said, struggling to find his voice. He was actually about ready to soil himself, having little experience in dealing with skinless demonic entities.

"No matter, you shall remember me in the end."

"A-are you Mahine's Mind Guardian?"

At this the face laughed quite loudly in a low octave. "No; THIS is her mind guardian," it said, sticking out a large olive tongue, upon which rested the digested remains of a bleeding octopus.

Vincent visibly gagged. "Er, may I ask where Mahine is?" he asked.

"Now, now, don't make a brother talk with his mouth full!" the demon said sharply, swallowing the octopus again. "I suppose you have noticed that Mahine is, shall we say, unique for an Omega Reyvateil?"

"Er, yeah. What is this river, and who are you, anyway?"

As usual, the head ignored his questioning. "Mahine has a special sight called Scrynevour, a divine blessing in which she gains unconscious glimpses of the future. This entire structure is a combination of multiple parts of your future, mainly occurrences in the depths of the Jungle Galdevar."

"Wow…" Vincent said, looking out across the violent black waters. _I doubt there's much I can glean from continued observance of this. However, I do wonder how I end up in such a rotten-smelling place!_ "Hey, um, sir? Most Omega Reyateils have the ability to seal themselves so that only one person may enter them. Can I do this with Mahine as well, for security reasons?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact!" the twisted excuse for a face said, suddenly blasting off from the stone wall and gutting its tusk into Vincent, plunging with him down to the black water below.

"Oouuaaghhhga!" Vincent hurled green chunks all over the cyclopean elephant demon head. "What did you do that for?!?"

"Oh, you know, security reasons!" the head said evilly, at which point the struggling pair smashed into the water with a splash, where Vincent felt a powerful current carrying him down into the blackness.

_Wait, what am I doing? I gotta fight back!_ Vincent thought, unsheathing his giant double-bladed sword and slashing mightily across his adversary's face, which was tough to do with the current working against him. Realizing this, Vincent pivoted his hips around, forcing the enemy downstream. At this point, slashing became much easier, and Vincent slashed two more times across the demon's face, aiming vaguely for its eyes. Eager to get that horrible tusk out of his gut, he also slashed swiftly at the joint where the tusk met the head's face, and that did the trick, breaking the demon off. Unfortunately, the tusk was still wedged soundly inside of Vincent, and he could feel his blood running out like a stable of racehorses.

The pair was now in pitch blackness. Vincent listened intently through the rushing water and heard a few wheezes far out in the water, at which he lashed out and cut, always meeting nothing. Apparently, the demon was circling around him as he flew down the river.

Suddenly, orange wreathes of flame spouted from the head, all blasting into Vincent's chest. "Oh god!" he cried as the searing pain collided with his nervous system. Realizing that he had light now, whether it was coming from his chest or not, he took his one clear shot at the demon, this time chopping it clean in half. The split head fell like a rock to the stone floor, at which point Vincent turned around to see what appeared to be the end of the river, embodied by a hulking underwater lizard, with jaws as wide as a whale shark.

This new section happened to be lit by yet another Latin inscription, this time in a disturbing red color on the stone floor. Vincent took no time to look at it though.

Still on fire, Vincent bucked and pulled until the tusk broke free of his abdomen, whereupon he held it straight up, knowing he would have to use it to prop open the mouth of the seafaring dinosaur. As he looked at the reptilian leviathan, however, Vincent vaguely wondered if it would be any use, the beast's mouth was so big.

As the monster began to slurp Vincent in, he started to bend to the pressure (and also due to the loss of blood), and he began lowering his tusk-spear. Realizing he would only get one chance, he poised himself as he entered the monster's mouth, knowing full well this could be the end. As soon as he gained entry, he stabbed the tusk straight into the lizard's carpet tongue, effectively propping the mouth gateway open. He hung on tight to his stake, receiving both the onslaught of the river's fury and of the reptile's violent barfing.

Vincent grit his teeth and kept his mouth clenched shut.

"_Aeros!_" Suddenly, a voice rang out through the fetid water, and Vincent looked upstream. There, rocketing towards him, was his gorgeous Reyvateil Mahine, covered with white blades of solid air. "I'm coming, Master!" she cried, her voice drenched in worry.

"Help me!" Vincent begged, getting a hearty mouthful of reptile bile as he did so.

The maiden stopped, hovering in mid-flight in front of the monster. "Vincent, you're going to have to let go; I'll swoop in and get you!"

"_What?! _No freakin' way!" Vincent cried. "I'll get eaten!"

"Trust me, master, there isn't much time!" Mahine said as she surveyed the quivering tusk that had made the beast's mouth it's temporary home.

"C-can't you just kill this thing?"

"Not with you in it, no! You'll be lost forever!" the water hid it, but tears of worry streamed out of her eyes.

"Alright." Vincent stared Mahine in the eyes, and gently let go, knowing she was his only chance.

Sure as her word, Mahine immediately swept in, her bladed wings cutting through the water with ease, and grabbed her Master from the starving throat of the gigantic lizard. Then she jetted out just as the cavernous jaws crushed closed, finally having snapped the tusk in two.

The two looked back, while Vincent wrapped his arms around his Reyvateil like never before. "Now, we kill it," Mahine stated, surveying the extremely aggravated water titan.

"W-what spell are you going to use?" Vincent said, groping Mahine absent-mindedly.

"Hmm… ooh I know!" she said, and then crafted a new song. "Black Vivisection!"

At this point, a massive steel leopard with a gigantic buzzsaw on its forehead blasted out of her persona and burrowed into the crawling reptile. The dragon heaved and cried as the leopard weaved in and out of its body, sending wave after wave of guts exploding into the river as it did so. Within a minute, the great titan breathed its last, labored breath and collapsed on the stone floor, dead (although the leopard continued to ravage the body quite vigorously).

After it collapsed the entire river stopped flowing, giving Vincent reason to relax.

"Wow, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you, Mahine!" he moaned, pulling her into his embrace, kissing her erratically.

Mahine giggled. "Calm down Master, you are still hurt." At this point she sang a simple song of healing, eradicating all traces of Vincent's burns and injuries.

Feeling absolutely perfect, he began to swim around in celebration, doing multiple flips in the now-calm river of darkness. As he passed over the blood-red inscription, he looked down with curiosity to study it. It read: vestri diligo mos terminus in cruor.

"Mahine; what does this say?"

"Why should I tell you when you can see it for yourself?" she asked warmly, and sang a new Blue Magic, Mahonic.

Vincent blinked; his vision had become a bit sharper, although with a tinge of violet. "What did that do?" he asked.

"Look at the inscription and see."

Vincent peered down and read the same inscription, but discovered that he quite easily grasped the meaning: Your love will end in blood.

"Whao! That's…really cool!" Vincent said, grinning broadly. He paused in thought; would this spell grant the party sight like they needed? _Only one way to find out!_ he thought, and felt his soulspace eyes warily. These had to be artificial. After all, his real eyes had been destroyed.

The scientist unsheathed his knife, and with a quivering hand, proceeded to pierce the fragile membrane of his left eye. Words cannot describe the pain that ripped through him as his left optic organ erupted into nonexistence, again. His primal scream echoed throughout the entire tunnel, sounding more animal than human. When he finally opened his right eye, he noticed that his head was surrounded by a thick cloud of his own blood.

"It's okay Master, I have a fetish for eye patches anyway!" the perfectly-sculptured greenhead sang.

"Mahine! Could you sing that same spell again?" he sobbed into his bloodied hands, biting onto the knife in pain.

"Yes, Master!" Mahine sang Mahonic again in the same soothing voice, and instantly Vincent's vision returned to his left eye, but the pain remained.

"Oh my god! It works!" he said ecstatically. "Lyner will be so proud." He paused. "Okay, was that inscription for me?"

"Yep!" Mahine said, swimming over to him cheerfully in a black bikini, which she evidently had just sung into existence. "Let me show you what's at the mouth of the river; it'll make things more clear!" With that, she donned her air blades again with a cry of "Aeros!" and pulled him far upstream.

As they traveled, Vincent looked at her curiously. "So… where were you that whole time?"

"Oh, some crazy monster ate me," Mahine said. "But when you severed it with your sword, I was reawakened! And just in time, too! I was almost completely digested."

"Oh!" Vincent said. The Cosmosphere was just too weird sometimes. "W-well, we wouldn't want that!"

The two heroes swam through the darkness for quite some time, until they finally came to the beginning of the river, which was a door with a large brass handle.

Vincent looked at Mahine, who nodded and let go of him, whereupon he swam down and pulled the door slowly open, cautiously stepping inside into a brightly-lit wooden knoll.

Inside, he saw The One That He Loved sitting before him, sobbing. Searing happiness coursed through Vincent's veins at the view; he could not actually see who she was, only the radiant manifestation of all of his love for her in the shape of her body. Seeing all that love overcame Vincent's sensibility, and he began laughing at her in pure bliss.

Suddenly realizing that she was in fact crying and bringing an object suspiciously shaped like a gun up to her mouth, he cried. "NO!!!!!! I love you too much! Don't shoot!"

"I don't have a choice; nothing's the same anymore," the voice said, in the pure, unblemished embodiment of love.

"That's not true, w-we can work through this!" Vincent cried manically. He didn't know if he could handle it if she ever left, his heart was so firmly obsessed with her.

"Heh, yeah. Right. Thanks anyway, Vincent," she said quietly, and pulled the trigger, causing the entire, brightly-illuminated room to strobe-light into chaos as her head splattered everywhere.

Vincent roared out in pain, but this was different pain than before; this was pain of the soul, and as he cried, the veins in his head exploded, and his blood splattered enough to rival his love's mess. "Oh my Goodddddddd! The pain!" He roared, weeping hysterically and soiling himself all at the same time.

At that precise time, the odd wooden room disappeared, and Vincent found himself falling in an endless eclipse of blackness, still bleeding profusely.

Through his tear-stained eyes, he saw a gently-smiling Mahine fly up next to him. "I'm sorry Master, but that is a taste of your future. Now, you have to get out, now, before you die in the Soulspace!"

"Oh, okay!" Vincent sobbed thickly, blood dripping profanely down his throat. He quickly concentrated and disconnected himself from Mahine's cosmosphere.

* * *

(_In Tong-Rhok, Luke's Workshop_) 

Luke looked up to see the bulbous shields around Vincent and Mahine fly up. "HEY guys, how ya _do_ing?!" the seaslug man queried.

Vincent blinked a few times, looking extremely unsettled, but Mahine spoke up, "Check out what we made!" On the spot, she sang Mahonic, and four lightning bolts rained down from the heavens into their eye slits, striking a hole in the ceiling.

Luke's draw dropped, and not because of the destruction; his two companions had both sprouted gorgeous violet eyes, floating a little out in front of their empty eye sockets. "Whoa! Do they _work_?!"

"Yeah, they work," Vincent said with a sneer. "And might I say, you are the sorriest-looking thing I've EVER seen!" Abruptly, the blue-haired scientist leapt out of the diving goop and ran over to where Mahine was still seated, hugging her tightly.

"Wow Vincent, to what do I owe this honor?" Mahine asked in surprise.

Vincent deeply inhaled the scent of her long green hair. "Oh Mahine; I don't know what I would do without you."

Mahine pulled away and grinned at him with intense violet eyes. "I'll always be here for you, don't worry."

Luke leapt out of his seat in excitement. "That's great that you crafted the song! Let's go get the others!"

"Right," the Tenba couple said together and got out of Mahine's pod.

* * *

A/N: Hey, I hope everybody enjoyed it! Please do tell me what you think (I'm certainly willing to change some stuff if anyone wants) 


	2. Master

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 18: Master

Vincent walked hand-in-hand with Mahine down the immensely decorated streets of Tong-Rhok. He was slowly getting used to viewing the world in a purple-tinged, static-filled manner. It was annoying, but definitely worth it for the sake of sight.

He looked at his Reyvateil, noticing how eerie her displaced violet eyes looked floating in front of her face. She turned and smirked at him. "So how did you like my Cosmosphere?"

Vincent paused and tussled his hair. "Uh, do you remember what happened?"

"Nope! Did you get to know me any better?" she asked him, staring into his eyes with her own intense violet ones.

"Er…not especially," he said, sighing and looking straight ahead.

Luke and Mahine waited for him to go on, and when he didn't, Luke said, "Uh…you _still_ haven't _an_swered her _ques_tion man."

"Well…" Vincent said, turning to look at them. "Let's just say it was the single scariest moment of my life so far!"

"Wow!" Mahine said. "Um…"

"Yes?" Vincent asked.

"I'm sorry!" the Omega Reyvateil exclaimed. "Will you ever dive in me again?" she said, tears dribbling out of the ugly gashes on her face.

"…I don't know," Vincent said quietly, and the group walked to the clothing store without further discussion, where they had the pleasure of seeing Radolf burst out of the store in a blinding green toga.

"YES!! Clothes! I'm not naked anymore!" the archbishop screamed, and collapsed on the dusty ground in pure bliss.

"Whoa…looking good there Radolf," Vincent said with a smirk.

Radolf's ears perked up and he leapt off the ground. "Wow Vincent, you're here too?! Come on inside, they've got clothes for everyone!" He cried, running back inside, on the verge of foaming at the mouth.

Vincent and Mahine smiled at each other, and they and Luke walked in behind Radolf, Luke rubbing his flippers together expectantly. "This is gonna be good…" he said.

Vincent burst out into laughter when he saw his teammates. Lyner was in a VERY skimpy suit of golden armor, revealing nearly all of his rock-hard chest. Jack was wearing a tattered black form-fitting rocker outfit, with a variety of teal ribbons streaming off of it in various places. Ayatane, meanwhile, was being fitted in a bright pink outfit that was not unlike a fairy's. Shurelia, apparently the architect of everyone's new outfits, had found a blue yukata similar to the orange one she typically wore.

"Hello everyone," Vincent said. "I like what you've done with yourselves." He turned his intense purple eyes to his partner's. "Go ahead and sing it again, Mahine."

The green-haired beauty nodded and sang Mahonic, drawing out a maroon thundercloud from her delicate throat. As intended, fourteen lightning bolts rained down into the room, granting the entire room their vision back.

"gasp, Sight?!?" Aurica squealed, ecstatic about having her sight back, running over and embracing Vincent tightly. Misha breathed in relief, testing out her newfound vision. Her eyes came to rest on Lyner's outfit at the same time that his did, and while she was completely turned on and primed, Lyner jumped about five feet in the air.

"Sh-Shurelia?!?" Lyner screamed. "WHAT did you clothe me in? I look like a slut!"

Shurelia huffed and crossed her arms. "No you don't! You look really nice. I worked especially hard on your outfit!"

Lyner stared at her incredulously. "Oh. I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult your tastes, Shurelia." His eyes swiveled to look at Misha, who was dressed in Kasha and was positively drooling over him. He winked at her, but she didn't seem to notice, as her eyes were somewhat…lower. Lyner cleared his throat and looked around at Aurica, who, wearing Lilim again, was currently embracing Vincent tightly. He felt a red-hot surge of jealousy erupt in his throat, and, looking over at Mahine, guessed by the looks of it that she was probably feeling the same sensation.

Meanwhile, Jack humped a pillow experimentally. "Heh, this new suit is gonna work REALly good. Such…flexibility! And subtlety!" He diagnosed, reviewing the intricate patterns on his ninja suit. "I am gonna rock the female market in this bad boy." He looked up at Ayatane and immediately guffawed. "WHAT is that, man!?"

Ayatane turned up his nose in annoyance. "What do you mean? Clearly I have been dressed in robes the same manner as the highest class of monks in your hometown, Em Pheyna. I'd say that this shows that Shurelia feels a certain amount of respect for me."

Jack snorted. "OR she detects a certain amount of gayness from you!"

"What was that?" Ayatane asked, turning his head so that his lilac hair danced cutely.

"Oh nothing, I was just talking about how good this suit feels. In fact, I have a boner right now."

"What, really?" Ayatane asked incredulously, looking down at Jack's crotch.

"HAH! Gotcha!" Jack laughed, hitting the samurai upside the face.

Ayatane narrowed his eyes, suddenly feeling quite terrible. "I'm not gay, you know that!" he said quietly, and then walked over to his best friend, Lyner. "Hey Lyner, what's up?" he started to say after putting a hand on his buddy's shoulder, but Lyner leapt away in fright.

"Arrgggh! Ayatane! Don't sneak up on me like that!" the knight of Elemia cried, stumbling over onto Misha, where both of them fell to the floor with a clang. The impact caused a rather large totem pole to topple and fall on Jack's head. "Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot.

Lyner got to his feet and offered his hand to help the armor-covered Misha up. "You alright? Why are you wearing that costume anyway?"

Misha rapidly blinked her fake eyes to compose herself, realizing her crush was actually talking to her. "Oh, I-I'm sorry! I just wanted a drastic change after being so exposed to everybody." She put her face up very close to his and said with dreamy disembodied eyes, "But I could change outfits for you if you wanted it!" She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, drawing longingly towards Lyner's handsome face.

Shurelia (who had been so busy lusting at Lyner's backside that she scarcely realized what was going on) cleared her throat loudly. "UM! Why don't we; go look for weapons now?" She turned to Vincent. "You wanted to analyze Mimas's body, right? Her body's in the workshop."

"Oh, right!" Vincent said, and walked off to the workshop with Luke and Mahine in tow. Aurica appeared torn between following him and fighting for her Lyner.

* * *

(_At the Omega Factory_)

A blood-splattered Michaelis leapt off his balcony onto a lower level one, causing several nude Omega Reyvateils to scamper out of the way and moon him and reverence. He smirked at his own authority and proceeded to walk, head held high, into the depths of his factory. His loser of a Reyvateil partner, Blaire, had neglected to tell him of Lyner and the others' survival. As punishment, he decided to give her the worst flaying he had ever done, and hung her out to dry dangling from his windowsill in a noose. Michaelis rather hoped she would not survive.

Without a single spot of dry cloth on him anywhere, Michaelis felt that this would be a good way to reintroduce himself to his father. Through extensive research with his partner, Michaelis had managed to resurrect his deceased father in a way, fusing his DNA with horse blood in order to make him that much more indestructible.

As he strut down his hallway, leaving a chunky trail of blood as he went, the castle became less medieval and more modernized, until it finally adopted a striking resemblance to the labs at Tenba.

Michaelis walked into the first cell of the hallway to greet his father for the first time in fourteen years. The lab was lit by a single green light bulb hanging in the room, and several busty Omega nurses were busily working when he came in (at which point they pivoted around and mooned him immediately).

"Very good, slaves. Leave my presence now," Michaelis spat, his mouth soaked with Blaire's blood. He attempted to wipe his mouth off, but since that was covered in blood too, it did little to help his cause. Deciding to give up for now, Michaelis stood up straight and surveyed his father as the nurses left in a hurry. The man had retained his same semblance despite the fusion between his and horse DNA, so a test of personality was now in order.

"Damn, you've got them _whipped!_" Bourd grinned. "Well done Michaelis. I see you took up my Omega project after I left."

"Yes I did, father. As you can see, they turned out…" Michaelis began, but Bourd interrupted him.

"_WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL SON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING GOING AROUND CALLING ME FATHER?!_" Bourd screamed, his eyes bugging out of his head in insanity. "I see you're still quite dim-witted at your age."

Michaelis rolled his eyes. "As you can see, you are in no position to debase me. I am your master now, you are MY creation!" he sneered, pointing to the mighty shackles around Bourd's arms. "Your strength has been doubled, as has your speed and endurance. But even your new power can't break through this reinforced steel."

Bourd laughed at him. "Once I get out of here I am going to beat the living s--- out of you, _master_!"

Michaelis took a deep breath and carried on as planned. "Lyner is still alive, slave. I require Mir to leave and destroy him, but she refuses to obey me."

Bourd started to laugh very briefly, but stopped immediately at the venemous look that his blood-soaked son gave him. "Hence, your renewed existence. I was also hoping for some intelligent company now that my partner is gone, but sadly…I suppose I was expecting too much!" Michaelis growled. He regarded Bourd again. "Will you talk to her for me, and force her to go after Lyner?"

His prisoner's eyes lit up with a dark fury. "Only if you will allow me to lead the army in pursuit of that long-haired maggot! I must have my revenge!"

"Very good, we have a deal then," Michaelis said with dead eyes, striding over to Bourd's side to free him, taking care to cut the sharp key very deeply into Bourd's skin as he undid the lock, causing his father to scream as his skin was mutilated.

Bourd looked up into his son's face and sneered. "Did you cover yourself in blood so that I would be impressed? I think you're just overcompensating because you're a pussy! Or were you trying to hide the marks I gave you when you were just a pup?"

Michaelis screamed out in feral rage, suddenly unsheathed a knife, and plunged it into his father's lap, very near his crotch. He lowered down and glared at his father, just inches away from his face. "Next time, I won't miss," he seethed.

The crazed youth then reacquired his knife and proceeded to undo the other five shackles, taking care to twist Bourd's skin gruesomely each time. After his father was free and stood up, Michaelis surveyed his hulking creation anew. Would he really be able to control this monster? "Mir is in the adjacent cell to yours. Follow me, slave," he spat.

Bourd just sneered and followed him outside, where Michaelis unlocked the door to Mir's cell, which was brimming with brightly-colored energy. "Proceed," Michaelis said, stepping back for his father to enter it.

Bourd nodded and smacked Michaelis hard in the head, sending him flying and toppling into the black steel of the hallway. The giant stepped into Mir's cell and closed the door behind him, proceeded by a snide, "Well, well, well…"

Michaelis held his head and realized to his dismay that his skull had cracked, and that he could touch his brain. "No…" he whimpered, and curled up in a ball, holding himself and weeping from the pain and humiliation.

At that moment, a nude Blaire stepped in, having healed herself back to perfection. She looked down and saw her master suffering and had pity on him. Blaire kneeled down next to him and gathered him up in her arms and legs, and the gasping youth curled into her affectionately, still covered in her blood.

Blaire sang a healing song for him, and his brain resealed itself. "Are you alright Master?" she asked sweetly, kissing him on the lips, a gesture that he returned passionately, laying her down on the floor and forcing himself on top of her. There he caressed her masterfully until she began to arch her back in pleasure, at which point Michaelis abruptly stood up.

"Omegas!" he commanded with a clap of his hand, feeling his old confidence grow back as he saw Blaire's face fall in disappointment. Immediately four gorgeous women came around the corner and saluted him by mooning him.

"Yes, Master Michaelis?" they asked from underneath themselves.

"Please return my father to his cell after he leaves Mir. Blaire and I have some…business to attend to in our bedroom." He said with a sneer at his partner, whose face lit up in excitement.

At that, Michaelis and Blaire returned to their bedroom through the use of Dragonspirit. As soon as Michaelis closed the door behind them, Blaire spun around and presented herself to him excitedly, but Michaelis violently punched her in the face. "Don't think you've escaped your punishment for lying to me yet!" he cried, his voice cracking with untamed emotion. Blaire tried to run away, but her Master caught her and threw her on the bed, beating her quite savagely in a pool of her old blood from beatings past. Deciding that the pool had grown too small for his liking, Michaelis wordlessly reached for his flogging whip again.

* * *

(_In The Workshop_)

As Vincent masterfully performed an autopsy of Mimas's corpse with fascination glittering in his eyes, Mahine watched him in awe. "Wow master, you're so amazing!" she exclaimed, looking at his face in lust.

Vincent's mind suddenly warped back to his distant past, when his father had commented similarly on his prodigal work in science as a young boy. How he had looked up to his father…what a shame he had been driven to kill him from Iapetus's taint. Vincent sighed and looked down at the corpse beneath him. What would his father think of him now? And more importantly, what would he advise him to do next? If only he had joined the dark side; Vincent could certainly use some company right now.

He looked up and smiled warmly. "I know. As long as I'm with you!" Mahine blushed and put her arm around him lovingly as he continued to work.

"Hey," someone said from above them, causing the couple to look up. Aurica stood above them, watching them embarrassedly. "D-do you mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all! Sit here next to me!" Vincent replied amicably, and Aurica hesitantly squatted down next to him while Mahine glared at her.

Vincent paused and picked open one of Mimas's veins, and it oozed out a pink gaseous mixture. "Eww, what's that?" Aurica asked.

"Mimas's essence, the pure form of the second Quiad," Vincent murmured in intense concentration. The scientist lowered his wrist mechanism into the severed vein and the pure concoction oozed into his tracking machine, slowly filling up the second of five empty glass bulbs on the mechanism.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Mahine asked shyly.

Vincent shrugged. "Well, since it's pure Quiad it'll strengthen the range of the tracker, so that it will be easier to find the others. Also, President Devon wanted me to bring back samples of all the Quiads if possible to analyze. No one has ever had all five pure elements at the same time before. It would be fascinating from a scientific perspective."

"…oh." Mahine said.

At this point Lyner and the rest of the party walked in and knocked on the wall in greeting. "Yo. You almost ready to go?"

"Aw man, we just now got settled!" Radolf complained, itching himself.

"Dude; we weren't even supposed to 'get settled' in the first place!" Jack said. "Let's go hunt us some Reyvateils."

"Yeah, I'm almost done," Vincent said lowly, topping off his globe with the pink substance. When it filled fully, his entire arm flashed a dazzling shade of pink.

"Whoa!" Everyone cried, besides Aurica, who screamed, "Pretty!"

"And that does it," Vincent said, standing up from the corpse. "I guess I'm ready to go whenever."

"What do you think, Shurelia? Are we ready to try this again?" Lyner asked his girlfriend warmly, pulling her close to him.

"Sure! I know we can beat them if we try hard enough!" she said bracingly. Lyner winked at her and kissed her before announcing to all of his party, "Then let's go kill some Reyvateils!" All the Reyvateils then glared at him annoyedly. "Er… I meant kill all the Omega and Quiad Reyvateils!" he said sheepishly.

"Yeah, we'll just bang all the rest of them!" Jack muttered to Misha, who gasped and elbowed him in the abdomen.

"My toga itches!" Radolf complained.

* * *

A/N: Woot, let's get this show on the road! Bourd is back, and stronger than ever! Can the party beat him again? Stay tuned to find out, loyal readers. (And thanks for the great reviews, Salary Dog!)

Please feel free to review!!


	3. The Pit

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 19- The Pit

(In Lyner's Dream-Laced Mind)

Lyner ordered a rather large serving of steamed Twinkies (his favorite pastries) before sitting down in the candlelit café. Just as he was about to dig in to the fantastic smelling food, he heard Misha scream out.

He looked up and saw Misha one table down. "Whoa, what's up Misha?" Lyner asked.

She looked at him with agony-rimmed eyes. "I left my purse up on the mountain while we were skiing!"

"Oh, God! Someone might use it as a barfbag!" Lyner exclaimed and jumped out of his seat. "Do you know where you left it?"

"Yeah, I think I left it just up over the final ridge," the dream Misha said with a sniffle. "A-are you gonna get it for me?"

"Sure!" Lyner yelled, and was on his way out the door when Misha suddenly grabbed him around the neck. She leaned in and planted a warm kiss on his lips. Pulling away, she smiled warmly and said, "That's just a taste of what you'll get when you come back!"

"Oh really?" Lyner said with peaked interest. _I like this dream!_ he thought. "I-I'll be right back!" he hollered and exploded out the door.

As soon as he left, Shurelia appeared with a plate of sizzling-hot pastries. "Wait, Lyner! I've got FUNNEL CAKES!"

Misha whistled and turned away to go back to her room. "Aren't you having fun staying in the mountains, Shurelia?"

"Hey, why'd you tell him your purse was up there? Tonight was my turn with him!!" Shurelia cried.

Misha narrowed her eyes and flipped Shurelia off. "What do you mean, your turn? You've been with him every single…"

Suddenly Ayatane jumped on her back with a giant howl. "Ye need not worry, Misha, for I am here! God, you're warm!"

Misha screamed and attempted to swing her adversary off in vain. "Ayatane!! That was a one-time thing ONLY okay!"

Meanwhile, Lyner burst outside and noticed Misha's bag perched at the edge of a giant face of rock before him. Lyner itched himself as he thought; how could he get up there? Suddenly, he noticed an adobe village directly next to him, so he jumped up onto one of the rooftops, and used the added height to jump up to where the purse was; only, it was gone!

Lyner gaped at the empty spot. Who could come and take the purse that fast without him noticing? Looking up, he noticed the answer directly above him; there lay a small building with smoke coming out of the chimney. "The butcher's house!" Lyner realized in a low voice, and set off up the mountain to investigate.

As he entered the house, he noticed that it seemed far grimier inside than usual; he saw multiple mutilated slabs of what looked like humans on various hooks hanging from the ceiling in the red room, but thought nothing of it. He took a few creaking steps forward and noticed the butcher directly down a dark, bloodstained hallway staring at him with bright yellow eyes.

"Oh, Butcher! You scared me there! Are you gonna attend our company's monthly retreat dinner in the resort this year?" Lyner said jovially.

The butcher took a few steps forward with a pitchfork and Lyner noticed that the figure had no skin. "Whoa…you're not lookin' so good, Butcher!"

The man stopped right in front of Lyner and rattled his head at nearly impossible speeds. "Heh, that's weird, I think you better take a bath!" Lyner said with a laugh, and took the bloody man, who had begun to moan in ancient tones, by the arm,.

Lyner stepped inside the bathroom and noticed that the bathtup was already occupied by a giant skinless pig. "Oh man! Hang on just a second man," Lyner said, letting go of the demonic butcher by the door and stooping down to lift the boar out of the tub. As he stood back up, he saw out of the corner of his eye in the foggy mirror that the butcher was running at him, so Lyner spun around out of instinct and threw the bloody pig at the butcher and fell backwards, having slipped on the moist floor.

Lyner broke through the weakly-constructed floor and fell through to a hidden basement containing a nude Aurica in a cage. "A-Aurica!" Lyner exclaimed, standing up. "What are you doing here!"

"I'm being held prisoner! The butcher has been eating Reyvateils, and I'm the last one left! You gotta help me out of here!" She said, pressing her head between the bars in desperation.

"Right!" Lyner said, unsheathing his giant golden sword and slashing through the metal like it was butter. He replaced it and held out his armored hands to help the gorgeous lady down. Aurica immediately leaned in and kissed him quite powerfully, each lick of her tongue threatening to smash his own. After she ate out the inside of his mouth for a good long time, Aurica finally resurfaced for air and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Lyner! I thought I was a goner!" She looked down with a dark anticipation on her brow. "You should take it off, eh?"

"Uhh, what off? My shoe?"

"No, it ALL off! We have to now, before it's too late!" Aurica cried, and looked earnestly into his eyes. "I can feel my mind rotting away every day. I love you so much but, each passing moment makes it harder for me to remember my feelings for you!"

"Really? Cuz of what the butcher did to you?" Lyner asked, receiving a nod from her. He looked around and noticed dozens of mutilated girls around the basement. "Um, shouldn't we go somewhere else?"

"No, Lyner!" she roared in anger, making Lyner jump. She took a steadying breath. "Lyner, I don't have much time, the butcher's coming! Let's just do it!"

Lyner paused for a moment, and then shrugged and took all of his clothes off. Grinning, Aurica lay down on the body-covered floor and pulled him down to her, when suddenly Lyner heard something immediately behind him.

He spun around and saw Shurelia standing there with her mouth wide open and Yeeka on her shoulder mimicking her (making it appear pseudo-intelligent). "H-hey Shurelia!" he said weakly.

"L-Lyner?!" Shurelia whimpered. "I…I can't believe you would do this to me!"

Lyner's heart sank, and as it did, an intense cover of guilt draped him. So thick was this guilt that Shurelia's face appeared to morph into a drooping skull. The blue-haired Reyvateil turned and walked, hunched over, back out the way she came in.

He knew he had to go to her; she was his girlfriend. "Shurelia! I didn't do anything, yet!"

Shurelia spoke with Bourd's voice. "But you would've if I hadn't come, wouldn't you?"

Lyner ran to her, when he suddenly heard Aurica scream, "LYNER, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" and he spun around. In his confusion he could have sworn she had teeth of spears.

He shook his head. "Sorry, Aurica. I know my priorities."

At that moment, he was smacked over the head by a two-by-four, and he again turned to see Misha on his other side, and she appeared to have deep black pits instead of eyes. She held up a purse in her other hand. "What happened to getting this for me, huh?" she exclaimed.

"I-I…" Lyner said. "I was still getting to that."

"Liar!! You like everyone but me!!!" the black-eyed Misha screamed, and kneed him in the balls. Lyner gagged, and staggered backwards, bumping into someone. He felt something squishy, and whirled around to see the skinless butcher had come back. The ghoul sniggered and raised his flogging whip, and Lyner moaned and edged to the side, colliding with Shurelia, who had come back.

"Lyner, DO you love me? I thought we had something?! Now I'm starting to think you just don't like me!" the skull-faced Shurelia said with Bourd's voice, and her gargantuan mouth began to suck his very soul out of his person. "It's because I'm ugly, isn't it? That's why no one's ever loved me! I'll be alone for another million years!" Lyner's scream got caught in his throat, and as he was batted again by Misha's two-by-four, he stumbled back into Aurica, who gripped him with violently shaking hands.

He looked at her and noticed that her face had transfigured into the twisted demon head of psychotic vampire. "You left me alone to die and go insane! How could you! Right when I needed you most!" she screamed in inhuman tones, and suddenly she jumped for his throat and ripped his lower jaw off with her monstrous fangs.

The last thing Lyner saw was the butcher's axe come down on his head.

* * *

And then everything was black.

Lyner was breathing quite heavily, and his pounding heart did little to help him. He hoped, he prayed that was all just a dream. "Shurelia?" he squeaked in fear. He had never been so afraid in his life.

There was no answer. The bloody smell of the butcher shop was gone, so that must mean he was back in his tent with Shurelia. To test this hypothesis, he reached out to his right and felt Yeeka's scaly body curled up on his girlfriend's body. He reached down and lightly felt her pretty face and long hair. "You're back to normal," he said with a heavy exhale. But he still felt guilty for cheating on her, because he knew such thoughts had passed through his mind recently. He really didn't pay his girlfriend enough attention; he would have to work on that.

He sighed and stroked his empty eye sockets. He really didn't want to go back to sleep, but it was hard not to when your vision was permanently blacked out.

The party was currently in the middle of the Veloz plains, as Luke referred to them. The tower was in clear view now, but Vincent could still get no readings on his arm mechanism.

What had caused all that craziness? Was it just the stress of the mission? Of his three crushes? Lyner shivered, hoping they never began to hate him for liking all three of them.

Suddenly, he felt a rush of cool air. "Hey, Lyner! Radolf's gone!" he heard Vincent exclaim from just above him.

"What? No way!" he responded, and struggled to get up, nudging Shurelia as he did so.

She moaned as she stretched. "Wh-what's going on? I was having a great dream!"

"Oh, go screw yourself," Lyner said very softly, before covering himself by saying much louder, "So could we have our vision back, please?"

"Sure!" Vincent said, and snapped his fingers. Footsteps followed, followed by Mahine's song Mahonic. A familiar sensation of static occurred across Lyner's face as his nerves reactivated. He blinked his new violet eyes and smiled at the four in the room with him. "Thanks, so what's this about Radolf?"

Vincent shrugged. "Apparently, he and Ayatane had some sort of fight, and he just stormed off."

"The idiot! He doesn't know what's out there! We have to go after him!" Lyner cried.

Shurelia gripped him around the arm. "Are you alright, honey? You seem a little bit on edge."

Lyner found that he couldn't look at her. "Uh, of COURSE I'm on edge, we gotta go rescue Radolf! Come on!" he then barreled out the door to get away, and looked around at the tent arrangement.

He ran out of the camp and bent down on the luscious green grass. The moonlit fields of the Veloz plains seemed especially sad that night, and Lyner fell forward on his face and cried into the ground. What was he doing out adventuring around at his age anyway? Was there really any hope left? Is that why Radolf left them?

Lyner felt a soft warm hand on his neck, and he looked up to see Aurica standing above him, unsure of herself. "Are you alright, Lyner?"

He nodded, and hugged her around the thighs, leaning into her. "Bad dream," he muttered.

"Ohh, I see," she said warmly, lovingly running her hand through his bright blond hair. "Well, who wouldn't, sleeping with Yeeka and Shurelia?" She pressed up to his face. "If you're with me, I guarantee you'll sleep well!"

"Lyner!" Shurelia exclaimed from the camp, causing Lyner to stand up quickly, at which point he saw her and Yeeka gaping at him and Shurelia, in a disturbing near mirror image from his dream. Was this all a continuation of the dream? "What are you doing in that position?!"

Lyner decided to act normal, and walked over to his girlfriend. "Sorry, I'm just a little rattled," he said with a smile. With that, he scooped her up by the butt and placed her on his shoulders. "You can ride up here if you want!"

"Oh, really?" Shurelia said in excitement, arranging her Yukata so it wasn't in the way. "Yay! Now I can look for Radolf better."

"Sweet, do you see anything?"

"Spin me around, so I can check the surroundings, my knight!" Shurelia commanded with a giggle, and Lyner obliged, spinning her around. _Oh my god, she is warm!_ Lyner thought pleasantly. He looked down at Aurica as he spun and saw a marked look of jealously splayed on her face. Lyner took a deep breath and chose to ignore it, instead stroking Shurelia's smooth legs. He hoped he wasn't a horrible boyfriend.

"Hey, there's smoke that way!" Shurelia said suddenly.

"What, are you serious? Does that mean there's other people?" Lyner asked.

"Mm-hm!"

"Cool, I'll go get everyone," Aurica said quickly, and walked away even quicker. "Just don't have too much fun, you two."

Lyner caressed Shurelia some more, and she swung her legs in a pleased manner. "Look how high up we are, Yeeka!" the Tower Administrator said, placing the young dragon on her head.

Lyner rolled his eyes. "I don't know; how high are you?"

"Not as high as he's going to be when he learns how to fly! Isn't that right, Yeeka," Shurelia said, smothering the dragon. It squawked in response.

Lyner groaned, and then saw something suspicious down in the moonlit fields before them; footprints in the dirt. "Check it out, Shurelia!" he said intently, and ran down the mountain.

"Oh my God, don't knock me off!" Shurelia said with a laugh, straddling his head all the tighter. Lyner got a little excited and ran even faster. Grinning, they stopped in front of the dirt patch. "What is it?" Shurelia said, swinging her legs again.

"Well," Lyner said, kneeling in front of the tracks. "These look like Radolf's footprints, and these right next to his are…pig hoof prints?" As he said that, he had a flash of a giant, skinless pig.

"Oh wow, Lyner! You're such a good tracker," Shurelia grinned. "Maybe Radolf was chased off by a giant pig!"

Lyner snorted. "I…guess? But then wouldn't we have heard it?"

"Well, maybe he just went out to get some fresh air!" Shurelia said with a shrug. "Hey Lyner…" she said, straddling his head affectionately again.

"Wassup?"

"Do you think Radolf's been acting a bit strange lately?"

"Yeah, I guess so; but I'm sure he's just not used to all the weird crap we've been having to put up with."

"That's probably it," Shurelia said, who seemed to be enjoying her position immensely. "Well, I have to admit I miss just sleeping for weeks at a time in your mansion. Those were the days!"

Lyner laughed. "Yeah, in retrospect those were nice. Like, we had eyeballs still and stuff. But at the time I was getting bored, although it was really nice to spend so much time with you."

"Mm-hm, that's what I miss too!" Shurelia said brightly, beginning to inconspicuously hump the back of his head. "So…who's the better kisser, me or Aurica?"

"Uh," Lyner said, unsure of what to say. Fortunately for him, everyone else arrived at that precise instant.

"Dang, what's goin' on here?" Jack grinned with raised eyebrows at the pair.

"Ow!Ow!" Radolf put in.

"Rawr!" Misha meowed.

Aurica rolled her eyes, and Vincent and Mahine didn't say anything at all.

"Guess what, Shurelia and me found some smoke just over that hill!" Lyner said, unperturbed.

"You mean, I found it!" Shurelia clarified, gingerly taking Yeeka off her head and shaking her luscious hair in the night air.

"Yeah, so we're going to go check it out!" Lyner said importantly, and spun on his heel to walk in the direction Shurelia had pointed out.

"Sweet, maybe Radolf's there, catching a smoke!" Jack said with a smile. "Hey Ayatane, what happened between you two? I heard you had a fight."

"nothing happened" Ayatane said softly.

"Say what?"

"I SAID NOTHING HAPPENED DAMMIT!!!" Ayatane roared. "And just for the record, I like boobs." Misha blushed and covered her chest with her hands surreptitiously.

Thus said, the party began to walk towards the distant moonlit hill. At one point, Lyner stopped and said, "OK Shurelia, you're coming down now."

"What?!" Shurelia said in upheaval; this was the best position she'd _ever_ been in with Lyner. "No, I can't! Do you want a neck massage?!" she tried, beginning to caress the back of his neck up and down.

"Oh wow-" Lyner breathed, and then shook his head and stooped on one knee. "Off."

"Aww, but why?!" Shurelia said, skipping off with Yeeka.

"Because, it would look ridiculous if we talked to these people with you perched on my shoulders," Lyner grinned. "Plus, you were getting heavy!"

Shurelia gasped and looked down; was he trying to say she was getting fat?

Vincent walked past them and surveyed what lay before them. "Actually, I don't think we're going to be talking to any people after all."

"Why, what do you mean?" Shurelia asked, and walked forward next to the scientist. Lyner looked down too and was taken aback.

There below them was a herd of giant orange ceratopsid monsters.

"Wow! Look at that armor!" Jack muttered. "I bet even my black gatling couldn't pierce their hide."

Vincent nodded in agreement, and suddenly one of the dinosaur-like creatures ran up to where they were.

"Steady, team," Lyner said crossly, and everyone crouched into battle positions.

"Stop, don't shoot; I mean no harm!" the dinosaur said.

Everyone paused. "Wha-you can talk?!?" Ayatane asked.

The monster bobbed his head. "Well, we made a fire, didn't we? Listen, we have been driven out of our homeland because a powerful virus has invaded the area."

Lyner frowned. "A virus?" He looked at the others. "As in, one of Mir's pawns?"

Ayatane shook his head. "Doubtful, she hasn't manufactured a single one since we befriended her."

"I beg of you, please come to our breeding grounds and help us stomp out the enemy!" the enlightened monster said.

Everyone looked at Lyner. "Why is it always up to me anyway?" he muttered. "Alright. We'll see what we can do."

"Excellent!" the ceratopsid said. "There are more of us than you, so you can all choose one of us to ride."

"Um, okay," the heroes said tentatively. It was one thing to converse with a fearsome monster, but riding on it was in another plane of comfort entirely.

A/N: Hello! I'm SOOOOOO sorry I took so long. Salary Dog, you are AWEsome, thx for the reviews! The nightmare section was inspired by the spirit of Halloween, so I hope I captured an appropriately nightmarish feeling for y'all. I can't promise, but I will try to start writing prolifically from now on. Please review, all ye who enter here.

Peace out, y'all. I hope to hear from you. (and…I hope for more Ar tonelico stories as well)

KoshKing777


	4. Out Of The Frying Pan

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 20- Out of the Frying Pan…

(At Night on the Veloz Plains)

Lyner gulped as he stood behind one of the massive orange ceratopsids. For some reason, riding one of these guys seemed like a really, really stupid idea. A part of him just wanted to order an attack on these frightening creatures. Taking a quick look around, he saw that no one else had boarded their steed either.

Deciding to be inspiring, he made a mighty leap and landed on the arching backbone of his ceratopsid steed. "Wow, you're HARD!!" he exclaimed. The skin of the dinosaur felt extremely reinforced indeed.

"That's gross," Luke said from below, who had apparently been waiting for Lyner to act before jumping on his own steed.

"Yeah, one of these guys would make a great oil drill!" Jack said with a grin.

"…WHAT are you guys talking about?!" Shurelia exclaimed as she gingerly attempted to climb up her massive steed.

Lyner looked around at his newfound place of height, noticing that he could see very far now. He could see the base of the tower from here, in fact; was it a mistake to go out of their way to help these guys when they were so close to their destination? He looked down at his companions, and couldn't help but notice a very convenient view of Aurica's Lilim outfit as she struggled to get on her ride.

"Look at all that smog out in the distance!" Ayatane said from on top of the dinosaur to Lyner's left. "I wonder what that's from?" Sure enough, massive doses of black smog were congealing menacingly in an area concentric to the tower.

"That is the damage the virus has caused in our homeland," the leader ceratopsid said, who had refused to let anyone ride on him.

"Hey Lyner?" Misha said from behind him with raised hands. She had changed into her Shinobi costume. "Could you help me up?"

Lyner broke into a warm smile, knowing Misha's athletic hindrances. He wordlessly eased down his dinosaur's back and helped her up, feeling a rush of excitement as she smiled and climbed over him to get to the front of its back.

"It looks like everyone's finally ready," the ceratopsids' leader said while Lyner scooted up and slid his arms around Misha's slight stomach to steady her. "We may as well embark. My name is Cerasaur, if you should need anything do not hesitate to call." He then turned and faced the darkly-smogged area in the distance. "GABOOOD!!" he roared and rushed off at frightfully high speeds.

The other dinosaurs answered Cerasaur's call and Lyner yelled, "Everybody hang on!" (which was completely unnecessary since everyone was already gripping their steed for dear life). Instantly, Lyner felt his and Misha's steed blast off running and the sheer amount of air colliding with him seemed designed to knock them off. To his amazement, however, Lyner opened his eyes to notice that they were somehow still on the thing. They were definitely running faster than they had been earlier that day while running under the influence of Blast magic.

Looking down as he held Misha's warm near-nude body to himself, Lyner estimated that they were passing over millions of grass petals a minute. "Now THIS is the way to travel!" he exclaimed to his steedmate. Misha whimpered a "Uh-huh" before re-collapsing in the crevasse of their dino's neck again in fear.

In no time, Cerasaur suddenly skidded to a stop right before a drastic change in the environment. The other ceratopsids all quickly braked and collided into each other. Lyner looked around to view his teammates' reactions with a grin. Him and Jack shared an enthusiastic nod, Ayatane looked like his mind had just evaporated, Vincent leaned in to give Mahine (who was traveling with him) a tender kiss, Shurelia was looking dreamily ecstatic, and Aurica exclaimed, "I'm hungry! We never eat anything!"

"It's alright Misha," Lyner whispered, gingerly stroking the quivering girl in front of him. "I think the worst is over."

Cerasaur pivoted around and addressed them all: "We are now entering the region known as the Crimson Rim. It is extremely dangerous, so we will be taking it slow from now on. It is important to keep PERFECTLY still as we navigate the complicated terrain." Lyner looked around the realm and thought he could probably guess why it was called the Crimson Rim; literally everything was a shade of red, even the intense smog that blocked their vision like a massive clot of blood. There was a massive ruby archway at the entrance with Greek characters carved into it. Past it were a number of gorgeous, gem-covered temples, with various rocks and hills everywhere. In the distance, Lyner could see the biggest mountain he had ever laid eyes upon.

"Wow Cerasaur, what is that mountain over there?" he asked.

Seeming a little surprised at being talked to by the tiny human, Cerasaur said, "It is known as Mount Zizibar. It is the birthplace of all life in this region known as The Middle Plane."

"Oh wow, are we going there?" Aurica asked.

Cerasaur made no answer, instead turning again to face the beautiful holy land before them. "We will now continue our journey home. Cease talking, for it is very dangerous here."

Lyner turned to Aurica and shrugged at her, who smiled and waved to him. The ceratopsids began to walk into the crunchy red ground. The multiple temples were breathtaking, as were the bubbling streams of lava that they passed over. Sometimes the streams widened so that the dinosaurs would have to stick to a very narrow stretch of road.

"Hey Lyner," Misha whispered, turning around so that she was straddling him across the stomach.

"Yeah?" he said, trying very hard not to stare intensely at her breasts, instead concentrating on the electric fizzles of her false eyes.

"Did you and Aurica, um, shag?"

"Ummmmmm, what's that?" he said, staring her in interest now.

"Uh…did you two hook up?"

Lyner continued to look at her blankly, cocking an eyebrow in confusion.

"Did you bake in her basket?" Shurelia said from one ceratopsid over.

"Yeah, did you start repeatedly slamming the door with her in the middle of the night?" Jack called.

"SHUT UP, EVERYONE!!!" Aurica and Cerasaur yelled in unison.

"WHAT?! Too many questions!!" Lyner screamed.

"Did you sow your seeds in her gateway?" Misha whispered very softly.

"Ohhhhhhh! When?" Lyner said, finally getting it.

"_ANYTIME!_" Misha hissed, crossing her eyebrows.

"No!" he said proudly. "I'm dating Shurelia, remember!"

Shurelia softened her glare at this and blushed with a small smile.

Misha exhaled in relief and hugged him tightly.

The caravan of the party trekked up a few pointy hills along the lava streams and came to a very large plateau with several pits. Cerasaur reared up on his hind legs and pointed at a distant hole. "That place is our breeding ground, Unbeck. There, we will tell you what we want from you."

"Alright," Lyner said with a nod of affirmation. As they passed around the first huge pit, he peered over into its murky contents. Inside were swarms of giant red skydragons, each with huge moustaches and glowering evilly at them.

"Don't fear the Tokanama," Cerasaur said, apparently referring to the magma-dwelling dragons. "We are the superior race, and they dare not attack us."

Lyner found their shimmering scales quite mesmerizing, and took in the sight as they passed around it to the next pit. Scanning the horizon, he saw the tower Ign Saradorn hulking menacingly to their near right.

The next pit was filled entirely with glowing yellow magma, and had a huge, steaming metal mechanism floating above it. Various hooks, spikes and poles hung from it. "Damn, that lava's close," Lyner whispered, noticing that he and Misha were colored yellow from the glow.

"Yeah!" she said, hugging him. "It's way too hot here!"

Lyner looked up and saw that the mountain face was incredibly close to them as well, giving the ceratopsids very little room to maneuver. They had to move in a single-file line now.

He suddenly heard someone cry out behind him: Ayatane. "Damn," he muttered, turning around to see Ayatane's steed wiggling around tentatively.

"Hold your position, soldier!" Cerasaur commanded the dinosaur, but the red-hot ground under the beast suddenly caved in, pulling the beast into the lava.

Ayatane flipped off his ride with ninja-like agility, landing on Luke's ceratopsid.

"SAVE HIM! SAVE HIM, DAMMIT!" Cerasaur screamed. The hairs on the back of Lyner's neck suddenly stood up in warning.

"Who, me?" Ayatane asked. "It's too late, there's no way for him to get out now."

Sure enough, the howling dinosaur was consumed by the lava and sunk to his death. Several of the ceratopsids began to mutter amongst themselves in a different language.

The leader cursed strongly and stamped obnoxiously on the ground. Lyner's eyes widened. "Dude, don't do that, or we're all gonna fall!"

Cerasaur snarled. "You have let one of us die! You cannot save us from natural hazards, so how can we expect you to destroy the virus?!"

"Calm down!" Shurelia snapped. "We can't fight here or we'll all die. Let's settle this on solid ground."

"DON'T talk to me bitch!" Cerasaur shrieked, shaking from rage. He then howled out in the ceratopsid language, and all the dinosaurs screamed and slammed violently into the cliff walls.

"Ungh!" Misha grunted as she and Lyner flew from their perch on their steed's back, landing on the ground. Seeing this, the ceratopsid began to stomp wildly in an attempt to smash them.

"Watch out!" Lyner cried, hurriedly grabbing Misha by the shoulder and forcibly pulling her out of the way just as she was about to be crushed. "Sing Gaia Bombard now!" he instructed and began to bash on the dinosaur's underbelly with his sword. Metal met metal repeatedly, but neither sword nor ceratopsid were damaged.

Lyner couldn't pay much attention to his surroundings, but he thought he heard Jack shooting with two guns. He looked over and was surprised to see Yeeka squawk and defend its mistress against the dinosaur that was attacking her, but then noticed Shurelia was singing Blast Fill for it.

Lyner's dinosaur reared up on its hind legs and drew a pitchfork from a hidden fold of skin on its side. In insanity, it brought it down with brute force on Lyner, who blocked it mightily with his gilded sword. "Damn! I can't hold him!" Lyner grunted to Misha. "Cerasaur, we don't want to fight you, but you're not giving us much choice!" He then nodded to Misha, who released Gaia Bombard, which slammed against the dinosaur but seemed to be absorbed by its thick golden hide.

The heroes then heard a massive CLUNK, and all who were battling looked around to see that the huge metal flying saucer had lowered to nearly on top of them. "Wot's…uh the deal?" Luke asked, when suddenly a gaggle of hooks on chains materialized out of the saucer. "Oh."

Cerasaur jumped off a tower he had surreptitiously climbed and operated. "Men! Impale our quarry on these hooks now!"

Those hooks dangling from the ceiling triggered something in Lyner's mind; his dream! He vaguely remembered there being hooks at the Butcher's house, with bodies hanging off them.

"MAHINE! SING BLACK VIVISECTION NOW!!!" Vincent suddenly screamed, and his gorgeous bikini-clad Reyvateil cast the metal leopard slash spell, which rocketed across the lava pit and collided with Cerasaur, erupting with a bright white luster. Everyone was forced to stop and cover their eyes, but when the sheen cleared, Cerasaur still stood there, with nothing but a shallow slash across his chest.

"Aw tits," Vincent muttered.

Suddenly, Lyner's ceratopsid swept his tail under his and Misha's feet, flipping them up in mid-air. The beast then grabbed and thrust them onto two hooks, causing the two heroes to scream in pain from the massive spears through their chests.

"EVERYONE SING HEALTH NOW!" Lyner screamed, and winced open a tear-stained false eye to see that everyone else had been successfully detained on a hook.

The girls all began to sing Healing Songs weakly, which didn't get rid of the hook but successfully halted the party's blood spewing.

"Hmm, interesting," Cerasaur said, walking to the apex of the pit and producing a flogging whip. He roared and slashed the whip across Lyner's person, ripping his skin cleanly off from head to crotch. Immediately after, however, (amidst Lyner's horrific screaming) his skin was slowly sewn back together from the power of the four Reyvateils.

Lyner grinned weakly and winked, which made his purple eye sizzle and pop with energy. "Is that the best you can do?"

"Actually no, now that you mention it!" Cerasaur snorted, turning tail and rescaling the operating tower. He pulled a lever, and the entire Flying Saucer began to lower into the lava. All the heroes screamed as the heat intensified, and eventually consumed them as the Saucer submerged itself in the boiling hot goo. All the dinosaurs laughed heartily. "Mission accomplished," Cerasaur muttered.

He pulled the lever back up, and the Flying Saucer resurfaced revealing the ten heroes, good as new. Jack smiled as the hoard of ceratopsids gawked at them. "Nice try, fat-ass!"

Cerasaur roared and flew forward. "We have to kill these singing bitches!" He jumped and landed in front of a wide-eyed Shurelia, and he took a pitchfork and stabbed it into her head, causing her brains to splatter on Yeeka.

"OH MY GOD!! SHURELIA!!" Lyner screamed, as the other heroes cried out similarly.

Shurelia continued to sing Life Fill to stay alive, but was now moaning the words and spitting up blood.

Cerasaur stuffed the spear farther in her face and commanded his cohorts, "Do the same with the rest of them!"

"Why are you doing this!?" Lyner demanded, again being reminded of the butcher dream, wondering if could be telling him something. How did he defeat the butcher in the dream again?

"Orders, maggot!" Cerasaur laughed. "Direct from the Tower Administrator. He has discovered your presence, and demands your eradication!"

"WHAT?!" Lyner cried. "What's he got against us?!" He suddenly remembered throwing a giant, skinless pig at the butcher. Nothing else seemed to hurt these monsters; where was a pig when you needed one?!

Suddenly, Radolf appeared on top of the cliff face. "Look! I've made a new friend!" he screamed with a huge grin plastered on his face. He held up a cute pink pig with a crew cut. "I named him Mr. Piggy!"

"RADOLF CHUCK THAT PIG AT ONE OF THESE GUYS!" Lyner roared in hysterics.

"NO!" Radolf said, hugging the pig to his chest. "Mr. Piggy's my friend!"

"Look what they're doing to the girls!" Lyner hissed as the Reyvateils began to undergo flogging sessions from even more ceratopsids that came to help torture.

"Oh my god, you're right!" Radolf said, and then raised Mr. Piggy to his face. "Mr. Piggy?" he said with a shaky voice. "We've been through a lot of hard times together, haven't we? Well, I'm sorry old buddy, old pal, but I guess this is goodbye!" He kissed the pig passionately on the snout. "I'll always remember you, Mr. Piggy!" he hiccupped, and then winded up a pitch and threw the pig at the nearest orange dinosaur, exploding on impact. "MR. PIGGYYY!" Radolf screamed, traumatized at his exploded best friend.

Said dinosaur roared in confusion and toppled over onto the consecutive dinosaur, which toppled over onto the consecutive dinosaur, which etc. until every single ceratopsid fell over in a falling domino effect. With each fallen beast, the Flying Saucer shuddered, until it suddenly fell into the pit, spinning wildly. As it submerged under the lava again, its hovering mechanism misfired, flipped the Saucer over, and came out upside down.

"This is it! This is our chance to get off!" Lyner screamed, and forced the hook out of his chest, thereafter running around and helping the various Reyvateils get out of theirs.

Suddenly a giant man composed entirely of fire erupted out of the pit next to them screaming inhumanly. "It's the virus! Run!!" the ceratopsids all screamed and ran away.

"Where are you maggots going?" Cerasaur demanded angrily, before suddenly realizing that the fire titan was directly above him. He surveyed it in fear before it kicked him, dissolving him into nonexistence as it did so.

Meanwhile, the party had successfully freed themselves from their binds, and jumped off onto the cliff where Radolf stood.

Lyner knelt by Shurelia and removed the pitchfork from her face, holding her as she continued to sing. He massaged her and murmured comforting words in her ear as she healed.

"Radolf! Dude! It's great to see you!" Jack said as his chest wound resealed. The girls were still moaning and spitting up as they sung.

"Oh Frelia's bosom, I should never have left! I feel so terrible!" Radolf sobbed at the horrific sight of the decimated women.

"No, it's awesome that you left! We'd be dead if you hadn't!" Jack said with a smile and a pat on Radolf's shoulder. "Just - don't go wandering off again, alright?"

The party suddenly felt an extreme wave of heat and noticed the giant virus walk through the Flying Saucer, melting it like ice cream.

"Fire a cannon up my ass and call it Sunday, that thing is hot!" Jack cursed.

Lyner leaned down and stroked Aurica's beautiful body. "Aurica, we need you to sing Undine now, can you do it?" he whispered softly.

She coughed and nodded, beginning to sing her Water spell.

"She needs harmonics, shoot the crap out of that thing, Jack!" Lyner commanded as he fired a shockwave up at the furious titan.

All attacks went right through the beast, and it wound back its fist to punch the heroes with flame.

"RELEASE IT NOWWWW!" Lyner roared. It was their only chance.

Aurica immediately casted, and Undine appeared in front of them, releasing a massive tidal wave that washed away all the flames composing the virus, leaving behind a very small prism composed of glass mirrors. It began to spin rapidly, slowly rebuilding its flame husk.

"Shoot that thing, Jack!" Lyner commanded.

"Can't, out of bullets!"

"I got this!" Vincent said, unsheathing a small throwing knife and hurling it through the small prism, shattering it with a miniature sonic boom.

"Leave thisss placccceeee!" A reptilian voice bellowed from behind them. The party slowly turned to see a huge Tokonama hovering in front of them. "Youuuu are not welcome here!"

"We don't mean any trouble, we're just trying to-" Lyner said with hands raised in a gesture of peace when the skydragon suddenly rocketed forward with its fangs wide open.

Lyner cursed and began to run. "SPEED SPELLS NOW!!" he roared, and the girls quickly shifted songs to their respective agility-inducing spells. The party then got up from their positions of recuperation and took off at a run, smoothly pattering across the treacherous terrain with a rabid dragon at their heels.

A massive cliff face rapidly came into view through the smog. Fortunately, a tunnel opening existed a few feet off the ground. "Everyone through the tunnel!" Lyner said as he passed the sprinting Misha, but then thought better of it and gathered Misha up into his arms so she wouldn't fall.

The party jumped up into the hole as one, and continued running deeper as the Tokonama continued to speed after them. Suddenly, the entire party ran directly into the skull of an especially massive Tokonama. The enormous resulting smack echoed throughout the cavern, waking a number of resident dragons.

"Humanssss?!? Killl them!!!! KILL THEM NOWWWW!!!!" the huge Tokonama commanded, and the skydragons swarmed on top of the heroes.

"Nooooowhere to runnnn now!!!" the Tokonama that had pursued them across the plateau informed them.

Lyner looked up by chance and noticed a ruby temple embedded in the cliff face nearly forty feet above them. "Yes there is!" He announced while slashing dragons all around him, resulting in emormous splashes of blood. The rest of the party caused similar rapid amounts of damage with the assistance of their large concentrations of agility. "Keep singing girls and follow me everybody!!" Lyner yelled and led the way running vertically up the cliff face, escaping the mob of skydragons. The party and said mob of cursing skydragons followed.

Although he began to lose momentum as he neared the top, he made it over the corner and skidded to a stop, stooping to help his teammates one by one as they came up. They each thanked him and dashed into the ruby-covered temple

As soon as Shurelia made it over, Lyner zipped her over to the temple, where Jack and Luke stood waiting to close the massive steel doors on the dragon hoard. As soon as they successfully closed it, a variety of dragons collided with the steel, making large dents in it.

"I…really don't think that's going to hold," Luke commented on the ancient door.

"Guys, I think we have a problem!" Radolf announced from further in, and Lyner looked to where he stood to see the temple occupied by three hulking ceratopsids who looked very angry.

* * *

A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you liked it, I found it highly enjoyable. I'm going to post another tonight, so stay tuned, read and review. 

I actually just flaming lied to you readers. I'm too tired, so I'm going to bed! ;) night!


	5. The Dead Ride Again

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 21- The Dead Ride Again

(Within the Temple of Zizibar)

The room where Lyner and his friends found themselves held a striking contrast to the lava-dominated world outside. In here everything glowed an opaque blue, multiple candlelit chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and a pleasant cool breeze pervaded everything.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to be sightseeing.

"NO ONE is allowed in here!!!" a large ceratopsid announced, lowering its head to show off his intricate horn structures.

"W-we didn't have anywhere else to go!" Lyner cried.

At that precise moment, an army of giant, swirling Tokonama busted through the door behind the party and froze as they saw the three giant certopsids across the room from them.

"YOU!!!! Get the HELL out of here!!!" the lead ceratopsid ordered the dragons.

One ruby-eyed dragon hovered forward. "Thesssse outsiders are our quarry; let ussss take them and we'll be on our way."

The ceratopsid spit on the sacred ground in anger. "The moment they set foot in here, they fell under our jurisdiction!" Lyner glanced at Misha, who was shaking with fear, and he put a steadying hand on her shoulder. "And the longer you stay in here, the sooner you're going to die!!" the dinosaur said to the dragons.

"Oh? Issss that a threat?" the dragon said with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yeah, it is. You know we could paint this palace red with your blood!"

The dragon snorted contentedly. "Well, if you would be ssssso intelligent to noticccce, there are over one hundred of us and how many of you? Ohhh, riiight. Three."

The ceratopsid cursed and dove headlong across the floor, his massive mantle of horns glinting in the blue candlelight. The heroes barely rolled out of the way in time.

The Tokonama hissed and launched itself directly at the ceratopsid with its mouth wide open. When the two met, the ceratopsid destroyed the dragon faster than the eye could see, hurling wreaths of blood spurting everywhere.

The dragons all froze, having not expected their leader to get annihilated. The ceratopsid grinned over his shoulder, challenging them to retaliate; an opportunity they didn't pass up.

Within minutes, all reptiles in the room were bucking, hacking and slashing each others' brains out, quickly making good on the ceratopsid's promise by coating the massive chamber of worship in caked Tokonama blood.

A tidal wave-sized splash of blood exploded on Shurelia. "We've gotta get out of here while they're distracted," she recommended, spitting a bit out of her mouth.

"Agreed," Vincent said with a nod, and they all stood up and proceeded to edge towards the door where they came in. Unfortunately, this coincided with where all the commotion was going on, and Vincent dared not lead the group anywhere near that mess.

"Come on! Let's go!" Aurica groaned from behind him.

"What, are you mad?!" Vincent hissed. "We'll get ripped to shreds!"

"We'll sing for you then," Misha said, nodding to her Reyvateil peers, and Aurica and Shurelia began to sing healing songs with her.

"Right," Vincent said, and then braced himself for the pain and dashed towards the mob with his head lowered.

Suddenly, a huge creaking groan reverberated across the sapphire floor as it convoluted and twisted the metal into a miniature typhoon. With a consummate "Gah!" the heroes lost their footing, and flew backwards onto the floor.

Vincent felt himself fall onto something quite soft and warm, and opened his eyes to discover himself on top of Aurica, staring into her eyes.

"H-hey!" he said, a smile suddenly appearing on his lips.

She grinned back. "Do you think you could stop squeezing my breast?"

"What?" Vincent said in surprise and then looked down to realize he had been absentmindedly groping her. "Oh god! I'm sorry!" he ejaculated and leapt off her, proffering his hand to help her up.

She gladly took it and let him help her up, suddenly feeling an intense wave of heat. She looked at a giant pit that had been crafted in the middle of the chamber and saw three giant flaming man-viruses rise out of it.

"Th-the viruses!!" the bloodied ceratopsids exclaimed, running out the door for their lives.

"Hahaha, cowardssss!" a Tokonama cried in victory. "The Temple of Zizibar now belongs to the Tokonama tribe!" He was immediately swatted by one of the monstrous firemen, dissolving on the spot from the incredible heat.

"All we have to do now is rid ourselves of these artificial creeeattturesss!" some other Tokonama cried, and as one they fanned out and began to eviscerate the three viruses.

"Now, this is how I like my battles," Jack said with a grin, watching the match with folded arms. "Not having to do anything!"

The firemen moaned metallically and summoned up a large amount of magma to cover their lower half. From the resulting kilt they formed and drew massive battle clubs of lava and began to savagely beat the dragons, killing ten Tokonama with each swing.

However, the more they swung, the more intensely the ground rumbled, until suddenly the entire temple began to cave in.

"Eoria making lesbian love to Tyria we have to get out of here!" Radolf cried, attempting to bash his spear through the wall they were pressed up against, but to no avail.

"Wow Archbishop, that was a pretty bad curse right there," Lyner said slowly.

"Yeah, if you died right now, would you really want that on your conscience?" Ayatane said conversationally.

"Oh, fine," Radolf said, clearing his throat. "Eoria making STRAIGHT love to Tyria we have to get out of here! How's that?"

"Spot on!" Ayatane said with a grin and two thumbs up. "But, you're right, time is quickly running out for us!"

Sure enough, the sapphire that seemed to make up the temple seemed to be quickly melting and draining into the pit caused by the fire viruses.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?!?" Auria screeched in fear.

"Hmm," Lyner thought, looking around rapidly. To his right he saw a large stone sarcophagus that appeared to be resisting the heat's intensity. "It may be a long shot, but let's try to get on this!" he yelled.

"Alright, sing Power blast spells, girls!" Vincent instructed.

"Right," Shurelia said, the holes in her skull finally fully resealing. She would have to remind herself to have a doctor check her out when they got back to Ar Tonelico. She opened her mouth and began to sing Blast fill as her comrades sang Slasher and Angel Rishi.

The men, Seaslug Man, dragon, and Mahine ran over and pushed with all their newfound might to topple the stone tablet. "Aw man, why do we have to ride a dead person?" Mahine complained as she climbed aboard.

"Why not? You just might like it!" Jack said, raising and lowering his eyebrows suggestively. "I know Krusche certainly rode pretty well when she was frozen!"

Luke froze and glared spears at Jack. "…WHAT?!?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh nuthin', I didn't say nuthin'!"

"You shit," Luke growled and punched Jack hard in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"GUYS! Now is NOT the time!" Lyner cried, attempting to steady the sarcophagus while it was boarded by the party. "Get him on here."

"Why can't we just leave him here?" Luke muttered, dropping Jack in the melting blue gemstone floor.

"I said, GET ON!!" Lyner roared, vaulting over the entire party, shoving Luke towards the stone tablet, and hoisting Jack over his shoulder before jumping on the coffin, just as it started to slide into the blue goop and down to the pit.

"This is it! Brace yourselves!" Radolf cried, and everyone held their breath as their sarcophagus taxi plummeted through the hole and spun through the air down, down, down…into a massive underground river of lava.

"Everyone alright?!" Lyner cried as Vincent breathed a sigh of relief. He then felt a familiar blast of radiant heat and looked up to see the two surviving virus swooping down towards them. "Uh-oh, we got company!" He looked over his shoulder at Aurica. "You know what to do!"

"Okay," she said with bravado in an effort to compose herself. As she began to sing the first verse of Undine, the viruses suddenly opened a hole in their chests and combined their flames to launch one massive meteor down at the party.

Lyner was momentarily stunned at the sight of the massive, bright rock, but then shook himself out of it and issued attack orders to Misha, Shurelia, and Mahine, who combined their spells to vanquish the meteor.

It was then that they all started to feel really drained. "God, they're taking all our energy, but we're not getting any from them!" Luke groaned.

"Well, we WOULD have burst energy if you hadn't've had the genius foresight to knock out THE ONLY PARTY MEMBER WHO COULD GIVE IT TO US!!!" Ayatane screamed at the Seaslug Man.

"I'll do what I can," Lyner said, launching a weak shockwave up through the viruses.

"I still need more power!" Aurica cried in between song lyrics.

Lyner weakly looked over at Vincent. "You don't have any more knives, do you?"

The youth shook his head. "No, I used the last one already." Vincent suddenly got an idea, though, and went over to Aurica and began to gently stroke her dainty shoulder. "You can do it, Aurica. We believe in you," he murmured to her. He could feel her pulse quicken through his hand, and she smiled. Lyner's stomach launched up at his throat and he probably would have thrown up if he didn't feel so exhausted.

"I think I'm ready now!" she announced, and she abruptly stopped singing and released her song, spraying a giant wave over the two firemen just as they reached the sarcophagus raft.

"Nice work, Aurica," Shurelia said with a grin, knowing what had transpired between her and Vincent.

"Wh-who's there? I like boobs," Jack mumbled as he slowly stirred awake.

"Jack! You're awake! And I know you do," Lyner said in delight, and helped the dazed gunman up to his feet. "Shoot those two mirror orbs, would you?" he said, pointing at the glass cores of the viruses.

"Sure thing, if it means sex later," Jack said raggedly (causing Lyner to let go in surprise) as he aimed and shot the two down.

"Whew, we made it!" Radolf said, trying to pry Yeeka's sharply-grasping claws off of his skull.

"We're not out of this yet!" Misha cried from the back of the raft, seeing a sharp turn coming up in the river, filled with several sudden drops. The party screamed out as the off balanced sarcophagus plopped down each cliff, barely staying upright. The raft suddenly veered off into a gulf-sized maelstrom of lava.

"…Jeez that's a lot of lava," Lyner breathed as he scanned the titanic pit. The raft took off with a renewed vigor and began to swirl into the giant whirlpool.

"God, we gotta get off of here NOW!" Ayatane exclaimed, looking up. Above them were several rock pillars jutting out of the walls. "If only we could jump high enough to get up there!"

"Maybe we could use Yeeka to carry us?" Shurelia suggested.

"I'm not even going to answer that," Lyner muttered.

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Vincent shouted, whirling around to his green-haired partner. "Sing Aeros for all of us!"

"But-" Mahine said, not sure if she should be contradicting her master. A blast of molten red ash colliding with her head inspired her to continue: "If I sing that, it'll replace the effects of Mahonic, and then we'll all be blind!"

"Lyner?" Vincent said, asking their commander for his thoughts. Lyner blinked twice, and then nodded. "Alright; go ahead and sing it for us, Mahine!"

The beautiful songstress nodded, and rapidly sang the verses of Aeros even as their sarcophagus began to melt. The lid suddenly broke, and Shurelia almost fell into the lava-filled coffin, were it not for Radolf's firm arm catching her around the waist to stop her fall. Her turquoise eyes smiled her thanks as Radolf handed her off to Lyner.

The sarcophagus continued to sink until Mahine launched her spell. The change was immediate; Lyner immediately lost all vision and had a great desire and ability to fly.

"Fly up, everyone!!" he ordered.

"Like we're stupid or something?!" Misha cried. "I don't want to stay on that thing a second longer!"

"Is everyone off ye-" Lyner started to ask when he suddenly slammed hard into a stone platform in the way of his escape, five of his teeth flying out as he did so. "OWWWW!" he announced.

"Lyner, all you alright –EEEK!" Aurica asked as she too apparently smacked into another platform.

The lava below them started to rumble violently. Lyner suddenly had an idea. "Yeeka!" he cried, hearing a distant squawk in response. "He's the only one who can still see! Let's have him lead the way by constantly calling at us!"

"Th-that just might work!" Shurelia said as Lyner managed to take off again upwards. She mumbled some soft words to the dragon youth, and it squawked in response and flew off to find a safe route to navigate. Lyner listened hard and angled his flight at Yeeka's calls, realizing to his surprise that they were managing to dodge some of the rock platforms.

The rumbling intensified, and suddenly the heroes began to feel renewed heat on their undersides. "See Lyner? I told you he'd be worth keeping!" Shurelia said, apparently pleased with herself.

Lyner shrugged in response. "I don't know, Shurelia! I think the lava's rising! We should put on healing spells just in case.

"Okay!" Shurelia said, and began to sing Life Fill. Aurica and Misha heard this too, and began to sing Life Shower and Paradise Cinna in response.

"DO YOU WANT ME TO SING TOO!?" Mahine called from far away.

Lyner tested the lava's location by slowing down just a bit, but was shocked when his leg was almost immediately consumed by the lava. He darted out with Aeros's flying power. "YES, PLEASE!!" he cried in pain as he felt his now-fleshless leg.

"WHEN?"

"NOW!!!!" he yelled.

Mahine abruptly switched songs, canceling their flight powers and encasing the entire time in healing orbs as they were quickly swallowed by the lava.

"Keep singing!" Lyner instructed through the thick goop, although he was sure Mahine couldn't hear him since he could no longer hear her song.

To his astonishment, they seemed to be heading downwards in the lava, not upwards. He really wished he could see; it seemed any time he was being thrown about by liquid with a mind of its own he was blind.

For quite some time Lyner had the sensation of being carried downwards, and just when the heat was starting to seep in and harm him despite the girls' continued singing, he blasted downwards into fresh air and landed on a sharp rock coated with magma. Groaning, he struggled to his feet and decided it was a good idea to run as far away from the lava spill as possible, and took off running on the slippery rocks. The trouble was, they were slippery, and he lost his balance and tossed and tumbled down a large hill of wet rocks tinkling with the pleasant sound of running water. He could hear the still-singing Reyvateil drop out of the lava flow too, but thankfully kept on singing despite their grunts from landing on such a sharp surface.

'Where are we now anyway?' Lyner thought as he continued to bounce and roll down the mountain by himself. 'AND DOES THIS HILL EVER END?!'

* * *

After much more plummeting and cursing, Lyner felt an extremely peculiar sensation, after which the entire atmosphere changed. Whereas before the area had seemed cold and lifeless, he could now feel the hum of active machinery and artificial warmth spreading everywhere. What was going on?

"Whoa, did that person just come out of the violet archway?" he distinctly heard Shurelia say.

"Sh-Shurelia?" he asked in confusion. How did she land here before him? He had definitely heard her voice come out of the spout AFTER he was freed from it.

"Lady Shurelia!" Lyner heard a deep, annoying voice say to her. "Do not go near him; we don't know anything about him!"

'What?' Lyner mouthed.

"Oh, preposterous!" Shurelia said haughtily. "Can't you see he's blind? How could he possibly harm me, the most powerful Reyvateil in existence?" He heard footsteps approach him, and then suddenly felt her cold hand on his neck. "Are you alright? You look awful!" she asked from directly in front of his crouched form.

Lyner didn't know how to respond; there was definitely something different about this Shurelia. "Er, yeah, I think so!" he said, taking her hand to help her stand up.

"What brings you to the city of Eon?!" she said ecstatically, and then gave him a hug. Lyner noticed that she was wearing her Linkage armor, but he still returned the hug, however awkwardly.

"Milady, I, er, don't that's proper conduct for a Tower Administrator!" another distinguished voice from behind her.

"Oh, stuff it! Don't you see what this means?! It worked; a successful gateway to the future!"

Lyner's eyes widened as he pulled away from Shurelia. "So…this is the past?!"

"Yep! We're still in construction of Ign Saradorn! I take it you are an occupant of it from the distant future?"

"Y-yeah, I guess you could say that," Lyner said confusedly. So he had somehow traveled to the past? He suddenly got very worried; what if he messed up somehow here in the past and altered the future in a negative way.

"It's funny," Shurelia said, drawing so close to him that he could feel the warmth of her breath on his lips. "I've never seen someone so handsome in all of Ar Tonelico! The future must be awesome indeed."

Lyner just stood there with his mouth hung open, when he heard a WHOOSH sound from a short distance away.

Shurelia spun towards the noise and cried, "Look, Goddess Frelia!! We haven't even finished the violet archway yet, and still this person just came through it!!"

"Well, of course it worked!" the Goddess Frelia responded, with a voice so taut with passion that Lyner almost peed himself. He felt her approach, and thereafter felt her hands explore his body, touching him in such an erotic way that he wished she would never stop. "…I would like for you to follow me and Lady Shurelia back to my airship. Would you like that?" she cooed in his ear with a voice that the perfect lover would moan before intercourse.

This time he lost all control of his bladder and peed himself, shaking uncontrollably. "Uh, y-y-y-y-y-y-yes please!" he said, with a crack in his voice. What the hell was the matter with him? He was acting like a horny schoolgirl. Shurelia giggled. "Oh, you're blushing! You're so cute!"

Frelia took his hand in her long, slender ones and guided him towards a nice cool breeze. He felt Shurelia's ice-cold hand grasp his other hand after a while.

The Goddess opened her mouth and sang an especially exquisite song, when Lyner suddenly could see again. 'WHAT?!? Does that mean Mahine is here?' Lyner thought, looking around, and was shocked at what he saw. Firstly, the sky before them was clear, cloudy, and more gorgeous than he had ever seen it. Behind him was being constructed what looked like would eventually become a lovely city, with sculptures, giant domed buildings, and Venetian rivers running through would should have been the streets. Vincent and Mahine were running at him crazily and gesturing madly.

He took a look at Frelia and what he saw was so unnatural he screamed out loud. Whatever her body looked like immediately left his mind, he just knew it was decidedly otherworldly. She looked at him questioningly with eyes of pure fire burning from the pit of the human soul. "What is it?" she purred, giving him an instant boner as he opened his lips to permit her entry. As she leaned in to kiss him with lovely pink lips, Lyner dared not look anywhere other than her perfect eyes, or else he would get scared again by her ethereal appearance. Suddenly, however, Vincent grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and hissed, "We HAVE to get out of here, man! Let's go!" He then took the spellbound Lyner by the arm and led him quickly away from the Frelia and Shurelia of the past on a skinny rail between the two rivers.

"Where are you going?" Shurelia asked pleasantly, while Frelia roared in the same tone as a Gregorian chant, "GET BACK HERE!!!" Immediately, Lyner, Vincent, and Mahine's path seemed to elongate infinitely. Lyner could just barely see the once-huge purple archway as a tiny dot in the distance. That woke him up. "Wow…" he said.

Sixteen bushels of flames flew at them and picked them up in the air, spinning them around to face Frelia. All three heroes screamed spontaneously at her freaky appearance.

"Where do you think you're going? I need you here in the past," she said, her voice re-adopting its former, soothing nature. She let loose a disturbing giggle that struck a chord of delight deep within Lyner's pants. He cocked his eyebrows in confusion.

"BLACK VIVISECTION NOW!!" Vincent roared, and Mahine unleashed her steel leopard spell, which ripped into the Goddess of Passion, who absorbed the hit with a huge green cloud she cast in front of her. Frelia opened her eyes just in time to see the three visitors from the future dash through the portal with augmented speed.

"Aw man, they got away!" Shurelia said with a giggle. "That blond one was cute; I'd tap that!"

Frelia sighed and rolled her eyes, bashing Shurelia across the head with a flaming fist. "Just shut up and finish this place up, inferior Reyvateil," she ordered with just a hint of sarcasm in her beautiful voice.

Shurelia stood up and brushed the blood off her mouth and nodded. "Construction of the Second Amplification Tower will be complete on schedule, I promise!"

"It better be," Frelia said, leaning in and licking Shurelia across the lips, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the Tower Administrator.

* * *

(_On The Other Side of The Violet Arch_)

"ARRGGH!" Lyner cried as soon as they made it back to the present.

"Lyner!" Shurelia and Misha declared simultaneously and rushed forward to hug him, causing him to jump in surprise. "Vincent said you could die if you stayed in the past much longer!" Misha added.

Lyner nodded, his heart still beating abnormally fast. "I see what he means. Let's just say Frelia looks NOTHING like the statues of her back in the Church at Nemo!" He turned to the blue-haired youth. "Thanks man, I owe you one."

Vincent grinned. "It's my duty to see you through unharmed, Lyner."

"Huh?" Lyner said, confused.

"Devon said so."

"Ohhh, alright. I guess in this case I needed you, huh?"

"I'll say," he said with a snort. "So where are we again, exactly?"

Realizing the question was directed at him, Luke cleared his throat and said, "Well, we somehow wound up on Ign Saradorn. Apparently the lava flow guided us there. Our current location is all that remains of the once-great Eon Nation."

"Wow, people lived here?" Aurica said looking around. "It looks so desolate…and spooky…"

"It used to look spookier," Lyner muttered, but had to admit she was right. The moss-covered ruins of blue rock outlined the remains of a once-splendorous world. Only skeletal remains of the dome-shaped building remained intact, and some intricate labyrinthine bridges dotted the empty landscape. "So this is Ign Saradorn, eh?"

"No, most of Ign Saradorn is still quite active," Luke said helpfully. "However, the people of Eon Nation developed the technology for traveling between time periods, and through this power they discovered they could manipulate reality by changing the distant past." He paused. "Ironically, a slight miscalculation on their part altered their present so dramatically that their society ended up inexplicitly collapsing upon itself."

"It's almost as if the goddesses' hands of rage descended on them for tampering with reality," Radolf said thoughtfully.

Lyner looked around at the team and noticed that all were present and healthy but most also looked exhausted. "Well, what do you say we call it a day, people?" he said.

"Hold on a second, Lyner!" Vincent said, a beeping issuing from his arm mechanism. He read the data it issued and looked up intently. "We got a lock – on the fourth Quiad!"

"Epimetheus," Radolf muttered darkly. "The Reyvateil of Demons. How close is she?"

Vincent shook his head. "Not too close. In fact, I doubt she has sensed our presence yet. My tracker places her a way farther on down the tower."

"Well she's probably not going anywhere," Jack said with a catatonic stretch. "I like Lyner's idea of camping here, personally."

"THAT would be awesome," Misha and Shurelia said with a sigh of relief.

The girls sat on the moist stones still running with the water from the moats of the ancient past, looking on as the male members of the group worked together to set up the five tents on stable ground.

* * *

A/N: Hooray! I like! You like? Then feel free to review! XD I like feedback, thanks everyone.

Sorry I took a relatively long time to update this time; my Internet's been on the fritz recently. Thanks for sticking with me and reviewing so far, Salary Dog! )


	6. A Murmur In The Dark

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 22- A Murmur in the Dark

(At night in the Eon Ruins)

Vincent simply could not get comfortable with all the spiny rocks poking up through his sleeping bag into his side. Evidently Mahine didn't mind, however, since the girl with a well-pronounced figure was sleeping peacefully with a small smile on her face. Vincent looked at her face in wonder and pulled her close to him, hoping her soft body would ease his troubled mind to sleep.

Suddenly, Vincent heard a rustle at his tent flap, and he sat up suddenly in bed, his hand flying to the hilt of his right-hand sword. He sincerely hoped it wasn't who he thought it was.

It was.

Yeeka flew up to him and squawked softly, gazing up at him with eyes of the purest black. "…I thought so," Vincent muttered, patting Yeeka softly on the head and standing up to exit the tent. Having a last-minute thought, he looked over his shoulder at his gorgeuous partner, but decided against bringing her along with him for now.

Alone in the night except for the idiotic dragon leading him, Vincent walked out into the twisting corridors of the mountainous landscape with only the starry night sky to keep him company.

* * *

However, someone had seen him leave.

Having a great deal of tracking prowess, Jack noticed Vincent's departure the moment he stepped out of his tent. Pulling on a cloak for warmth, he slid out of his sleeping bag and crept along behind the young scientist as silently as he could.

Jack followed Vincent for a long distance on the mossy rocks of the ruins, always being careful to keep himself quite hidden in case the young man turned around. Eventually, he tracked the man to an empty clearing, at which point Vincent stood in the middle, waiting. Jack cocked an eyebrow and situated himself behind a hill near the clearing to investigate whatever the kid was up to.

Soon, Vincent was joined by two others. One slid out from behind a rock on the opposite side of the clearing, and Jack immediately recognized him as the young man with green-and-black striped hair to whom he had given a lift to Firefly Alley about two months ago. Another figure seemed to materialize out of the very darkness of the ruins, floating in the air like a spirit (albeit an extremely gorgeous and busty one). Everything about her was the color of night except for her feline yellow eyes. Jack knew her immediately as well; this was the bane of his daughter! He had to hold himself back from shooting the Quiad Reyvateil down on the spot. It seemed the Church of Elemia hadn't been thorough in their extermination of Iapetus.

"Michaelis!!" Vincent cried amicably, while Michaelis grinned and hugged the blue-haired scientist snugly.

"How've you been, buddy? Your Reyvateil slut's not getting too much in the way, is she?" Michaelis said with a smile.

"Oh, she's fine," Vincent said with a shrug. "She doesn't talk much, is good in bed… I really can't complain!"

"Hell yeah, that's all that matters!" Michaelis said cheekily.

Iapetus cleared her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she said in her extremely low masculine voice, "but I believe you summoned me, sir?"

"YES I did, and damn were you hard to track down!" Michaelis said, stepping away from his friend and approaching the dark Reyvateil. "I have someone I would like you to meet, Iapetus."

"This weedy youth here, I take it?" Iapetus said with a sneer. She suddenly froze, wide-eyed. "I sense…my SELF in you, Vincent…how is this possible? We have never come in contact before!"

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong," Vincent said with a dark grin. "We have met many, many times, but not in this timeline." Iapetus continued to look bewildered, so he continued. "I am from the distant future, Iapetus, where I am your right hand man, as well as…" Vincent trailed off and ran his eyes over the Reyvateil's alluring curves. "Oh, never mind."

"I…really?? I made YOU my right-hand man?" Iapetus said incredulously. "Why, what makes you so special?"

"Allow me to explain, Vincent," Michaelis said, clearly enjoying himself. "THIS is Lyner Barsett's son – Vincent Barsett."

"Oh yes, Lyner's the one out to kill all of my sisters, isn't he?" Iapetus said with a cocked eyebrow. "Don't tell me he actually becomes a threat!!"

"Well…he does succeed in finishing off Mimas, Epimetheus, and Tethys, but he never finishes off you or Rhea." Vincent supplied. "Because I murdered him in his sleep after you successfully completed my Tainting when I was thirteen." He stalked around the clearing, keeping an eye out for intruders, and Jack ducked. 'Holy crap, Vincent's Lyner's son?!? This is really bad, he's gotta be up to something! I just gotta find out what.' Jack heard voices again, so he listened even harder.

"I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing here in the past, eh?" Vincent asked his lady. "You sent me back, because I was your last hope."

"Wait, wait, wait, I just don't believe you!" Iapetus said with her arms folded. "Why would I bank everything on YOU succeeding? What threat could possibly stand up to the might of MY power?!"

"Shurelia. In MY present, she has decided to cast a refresh spell on the entire world beyond her observatory, effectively killing everything and destroying the beautiful dark world you and I had finally enacted. The decision was her last resort, but she thought the citizens would probably rather be killed than to be continued slaves of your will." Vincent stretched boredly. "Our demise was pretty much clinched, so you sent me back, through these very gates," he said, gesturing in the direction of the massive purple gate that served as a gate to the future. "with a mission; to change the past so that you WILL rule supreme, only in a slightly different manner. I was also charged with carrying on your Tainted campaign, making as many people as possible in this timeline slaves to your will. Finally, I was charged with protecting key Tainted people in this world from harm, as I have done on several occasions already with Lyner." He scratched his goatee and checked out Iapetus's elegant body again. "Do you still not believe I am your second-in-command?"

"Er…yes, I suppose I do now." Iapetus said, scratching her head. "D-do we have sex in the future?"

"Why, yes!" Vincent said with a huge grin. "You are they only woman I have ever loved."

"Oh…" Iapetus said, considering the implications of this. "D-do you want to have sex now?"

Jack instantly got a boner, but was let down when Michaelis interrupted. "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, AFTER the meeting, you two! I have called you both here for a reason."

The other two regarded him expectantly. "Yes? Well? What is it?" Vincent Barsett said impatiently.

"Oh, sorry," Michaelis said. "I just wanted to inform Iapetus of her own plan for revenge."

"From the future, you mean?" Iapetus said, still trying to grasp what was going on.

"Correct," Michaelis said. "You see, after your power proved unable to effectively destroy the forces of good, you eventually began to seek a new power. A more…complete power, if you will."

"You don't mean…Fusion?!" Iapetus asked, wide-eyed.

"Of course we do!" Vincent said passionately. That has been Michaelis and I's plan ever since we murdered Ayano and replaced her with that mechanical puppet, Devon."

"Right," Michaelis said. He took a deep breath and regarded Iapetus. "We have something to reveal to you, and it might come as quite a shock, so brace yourself."

Iapetus shrugged. "Alright. I'm braced."

"I created you," Michaelis stated simply, causing Iapetus's jaw to drop.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK SUCH A THING, YOU SEXUALLY DEPRIVED BASTARD?!?!" the girl screamed.

Vincent coughed twice. "Nice job breaking it to her, mate."

"Shut up you wanker!" Michaelis yelled jokingly at his friend with a grin. Picking at a sore on his lip, he turned back to Iapetus, who was now glowering at the two of them ferociously. "Okay, let me tell you everything. I dutifully finished my father's illicit development of his emotionless Reyvateils, the Omega Generation. Naturally, they were infinitely more powerful than the outdated Reyvateils that populate the whole of the known world, but I wanted something even more powerful!" His eyes lit up with a strange fire. "I've always believed, from a very young age, that passion is the ultimate source of power! My dad did his best to repress this belief, but I really believe that the more perfect the passion someone feels, the more boundless power they are capable of."

"So…Frelia, the Goddess of Passion?" Iapetus asked, guessing where this was going.

"Yes! I turned my sights on creating the being with unlimited passion, the Goddess Frelia. I combined my father's research with my own intensive studies of the ancient texts and the five original Quiad Reyvateils, and eventually made the first-ever replicas of the five Quiad orbs. Take a look!" Michaelis pulled out a holocorder and it played an image of the five colored orbs sitting together on a pedestal. "I managed to isolate all five in their natural state!" he said proudly.

"Wow…so that's me?" Iapetus asked in awe, pointing at the black orb.

Michaelis nodded. "I intended to fuse them together as soon as possible to make Frelia return and unleash her immense passion anew on the world. Unfortunately, while I was studying the First Quiad orb one afternoon and the blast shield on the pedestal was down, someone broke in and stole the other four orbs, scattering them around Ign Saradorn. They evidently bonded with female human hosts and formed the second, unintended generation of the Quiad Reyvateils, of which you are one, my lovely Iapetus," he said, gesturing to her.

"Oh, wow!" Iapetus breathed. "That explains the thousand-year gap in my memory. I thought I had just fallen into hibernation! But really I was created anew. I suppose I have you to thank, Michaelis."

"Don't mention it," the twisted scientist said. "Now, I never found out who scattered the orbs. Actually, I never found a trace of the thief, so I have virtually no leads."

"So that brings us to my current activities," Vincent put in. "I am questing throughout the tower, trying to locate, defeat, and get samples from you, Mimas, Epimetheus, and Tethys, so we can effectively reunite you in the form you were intended to be in: Frelia."

"No!" Iapetus said suddenly, causing the two scientists to jump. "I want to rule my great kingdom myself, not with four other sluts along for the ride!"

"Iapetus, we tried that already in the future that I came from," Vincent said, stepping up to her and tenderly rubbing her beautiful neck. "The dark nightmare we made was a glorious marvel, and will always be one of the best memories I will have, but; it just wasn't enough! You NEED to reach your ultimate form, Iapetus!" He paused, and she turned her head to look into his eyes. She suddenly darted her head forward and began to kiss him very passionately, moaning as his hands kneaded her smooth jet-black skin. She reached down his pants and played around with his crotch as he began to moan too and kiss even more passionately.

Michaelis cleared his throat and the two jumped apart, blushing.

"Wow, that…" Iapetus said, blushing.

"…was awesome!" Vincent finished. "Man, I've missed you!"

"Are we done yet??" Iapetus demanded to Michaelis, wanting to get to the after-meeting celebrations with Vincent Barsett as soon as possible.

"NO!!" Michaelis roared, wiping the smiles off his friends' faces. They both knew that a mad Michaelis was unpleasant for everyone. "So are you with us, or against us?" he asked Iapetus.

She shrugged. "Ah, screw it, I'm with you. I'll join in with your crazy scheme to reunite with my sisters." She turned to Vincent again and grinned wildly. "So do you need my sample yet?"

"Y-yeah!" Vincent said, reaching to his mechanism.

"No," Iapetus said, putting her hand lightly on his arm and grinning slyly. "Wait until after the meeting. I'll give you the goo you need."

"O-okay," the scientist said, blushing ferociously and bouncing on his heels. "So, what we want from you now, Iapetus, is for you to stay out of trouble and build up your husk again."

"Alright, will do. Why, will you need me for some kind of battle?" the Quiad Reyvateil asked, her voice laced with affection for her future lover.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Michaelis said loudly, annoyed that he was no longer the center of attention. "We'll need you to subdue Rhea in Nervocelambra once we awaken her."

"Wha- Rhea?! It's been millennia since I've seen her!" Iapetus gasped. "It would be me my pleasure to kick her ass for not showing her sexy face for so long now! Wow, so she's in Nervocelambra right now?"

"That's right," Michaelis said. "I found a proper human host for her; one of your Tainted, it turns out. When Devon proposed the journey for Lyner's group to vanquish your kind back in Firefly Alley, they demanded on taking the host I had chosen with them, so I had to act quickly and implant the Green Orb in her while she was still free of the inevitable Nervocelambran shields. Therefore, she'll transform into Rhea as soon as she is unfrozen, which makes her a powerful weapon for us!"

"Wow, so this union might actually work…" Iapetus said in wonder.

Meanwhile, Jack had grown quite furious after realizing who the host for Rhea was: Krusche. How dare they turn her into one of these monsters! Krusche was his baby, the love of his life. Overcome by sudden fury, he cocked his gun and was about to pick off the three villains when a shroud of thick darkness suddenly encased his lower half.

"…shit," Jack said, and then was suddenly pulled sharply towards the darkness's caster, Iapetus. His journey plunged him through a giant wall of stone, so he was quite battered by the time he reached the three evildoers.

"Mr. Hamilton," Iapetus said, her face twisted into a familiar grin. "We meet again."

"Up yours," Jack said pleasantly. "So how did you know I was here?"

The dark Reyvateil guffawed. "You're tainted, you reject! When I pulverized your ship, I infected your system with my own darkness. In other words, there's a little me in you!"

"NO!" Jack said in mock shock. "But I DO got a little captain in me. Do you got a little captain in you?"

"Uh no. Not until after this meeting, that is," she said, winking at Vincent. "…anyway, I could sense you as soon as your emotions flared up," Iapetus groaned.

"So who else is Tainted?" Jack asked, kicking his feet in delight as he remained floating in the air. He turned to the man with striped green-and-black hair. "Good to see you again, Michaelis. How's Blaire? She's a MONSTER in bed, isn't she?"

Michaelis's jaw dropped. "Y-you ingrate! How dare you!!" He spun around to Vincent. "Let's kill him!"

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "No, are you crazy? It is my duty to protect all who are Tainted! We can just as easily erase his memory!"

Michaelis grimaced and grumbled to himself. "Mouthy, this one…" he muttered.

"But we CAN do THIS!" Iapetus said, launching a spray of violet lightning over the treasure hunter, making him writhe about in pain.

Vincent shrugged. "Anyway, to answer your earlier question, Jack, you, Lyner, and Krusche are all that I have successfully Tainted so far. However, I daresay I'm getting closer to tainting Miss Nestmille though, wouldn't you say?"

"Bastard!" Jack accused, glaring at the young man.

"Well, I'll just go ahead and erase your memory now, since you're just getting in the way," Vincent said. His eyes then began to glow with an effervescent black.

Jack tried to avoid looking at it, but couldn't help looking into the man's beautiful eyes. Inside, he saw the incredibly twisted shape of a massive black city in the arrangement of two gigantic black axes. Dark aircraft flew everywhere, and millions and millions of windows glowed in the dark towers. Jack felt an incredible belonging to this place, wherever it was, and he couldn't shake the strange feeling he had that he had somehow seen it before.

* * *

Jack snapped open his eyes after realizing he couldn't place the source of his feelings of déjà vu. The sky was blue, so he figured it must be the next day. He suddenly saw Lyner' spiky hair come into view, grinning. "He's alright!" the knight announced to everyone.

"Really?" Shurelia cried, running into view. She stopped over Jack's face, and he got a clear view up her Yukata. And it was goooooooooooooooooooooood!

Jack whimpered in pleasure. "Good to have you back, man!" Lyner said, bracingly, not realizing that Jack was ogling his girlfriend.

"Y-yep, it's gooooooooooood to be back…" Jack said with a big smile.

Vincent's head popped into Jack's view as well, and this caught Jack's attention. The smug expression on the scientist triggered something in Jack's memory. Wasn't he supposed to tell Lyner about something concerning Vincent? Jack pondered the question while returning to his intense inspection of Shurelia. Needless to say, he soon completely forgot about the odd feeling concerning Vincent.

"So…how long was I out?" Jack said in a monotone.

"A week, dude! We were worried about you!" Lyner said.

"Holy crap, a week?!?" Jack cried, jumping up to his feet. "I'm sorry, everybody!"

"Nah, don't be!" Shurelia said brightly from behind him. "We all got really well-rested!"

"Yes, and we found the route down from these dull ruins!" Ayatane said, approaching the group.

"Awesome," Jack breathed. "So did you bring me with you from the campsite then?"

"Yeah," Lyner said. "After Vincent saved you from drowning in the river, you just stayed out of it, man! After you didn't wake up, we just opted to carry you with us."

"Oh…" Jack said, having no memory of any river. "Well thanks, Vince, I owe ya one!" he said, trying to high five the scientist, but the man gave no move.

"…the name's Vincent," he growled.

"Oh, right Vinnie." Jack said. "What's your last name, anyway?"

"…Hubert," Vincent said with a raised eyebrow. "What's it to ya?"

"Just wondering, man!"

"Hey Jack, guess what?" Lyner put in.

"Yes?"

"I've been writing a song!" the knight said, pulling out a piece of parchment. "Would you like to see?"

"S-sure," Jack said, taking the parchment from Lyner. "Is it for the girls to sing?"

"Well, yeah, I figure it'll do something if they sing it!" he said with a shrug.

"…alright," Jack said, bracing himself. The "song" read:

_Words and shapes formed entirely of color_

_I rip them from a gypsy and stuff them up your mother!_

_Alternating between ladies and mommas and babies_

_You know you got it bad when you got your mind on the eighties!_

_Ohhhhhhh-ohhhhhh you make me wanna cry!_

_Ohhhhhhh-ohhhhhh when we're frolicking up there in the sky!_

"I-it's not quite finished yet," Lyner said with a goofy smile. Jack lowered the parchment and glowered at his friend. "What?" Lyner asked. Jack suddenly took his organic hand and smacked Lyner hard upside the head. He then spun on his heel and walked over to Misha.

* * *

A/N: Oi, everyone! How's it going! Do read and review and you shall be rewarded. With…with many a bounty!

Disclaimer: I don't own jack squat. But if I did… I would make him do push-ups every day before he reported for duty. That lazy bastard!


	7. Dipping Our Toes In

A/N: I am SOOOOO sorry for not updating sooner. It's rather inexcusable how long I've procrastinated writing this chapter. Thanks for sticking with me so long, y'all. And might I say that I'm not really TOO thrilled with this chapter… oh well. I'll update tomorrow as well! Enjoy the continued adventure of Rite of Slumber!

Disclaimer: I know nothing having anything to do with the franchise of Ar Tonelico.

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 23- Dipping Our Toes In

(At Daytime in the Eon Ruins)

Lyner blinked his seltzer-bubbling replacement eyes rapidly to adjust to the breaking daylight. Throughout the entire night his party had bravely trouped down through layer after layer of abandoned ruins. Each layer was filled with abandoned relics from times long forgotten; Lyner wondered if this vast expanse of land would ever be populated again. He wouldn't blame people if they didn't; the goddess's creepy otherwordly touch seemed to pervade all matter in this tower.

Lyner squinted up to review their progress. Far, far above their current position the volcano was still spewing luscious red lava over the disk-like outcropping from the tower that made up the Middle Plane. After that came the several layers of Eon Ruins they had just traversed. Each layer had a main street surrounded by mountainous ruins, which contained a hidden aqueous tunnel that led to the subsequent floor.

The knight of Elemia groaned. He had given up complaining after the first few floors, but he felt another complaint coming on in a second. Oh wait, here it comes…

"Hey Luke."

"Yes?" He said in a rather adorable voice.

"How much longer till we're out of here?"

"Damned if I know."

"Just checking," Lyner sighed. He flicked his eyes toward Jack, who seemed to still be dazed since his rescue at Vincent's hands. Jack was currently eyeing Vincent suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Aurica and Radolf had taken to competing to see who could find each hidden tunnel first in order to past the time.

"Hey everybody, this statue's, like, sinking!" Aurica announced over a bridge covered with orange moss.

"I FOUND IT!!!" Radolf suddenly screamed, but then made an odd gagging sound.

Lyner's head snapped up. "Radolf? You okay?"

More subtle gagging sounds ensued.

Jack ran up the nearest bluff and then aimed and shot downwards. "Jack? What's going on?" Shurelia queried.

He shook his head, his greasy blue hair dancing around like dreadlocks. "A bloody zombie just attacked Radolf. No biggie."

"Oh, good." Yeeka suddenly came running from under the bridge, whimpering intently. Shurelia stooped down and picked him up, cooing in his ear. "Were you scared, Yeeka? You're gonna be alright now!"

Lyner made a gagging motion to Ayatane, who chuckled and nodded.

The party ran over and located the sobbing archbishop, who was being coddled by Aurica. She looked up at Lyner and winked.

"I-I-I-I didn't know there was anything in there!!!" Radolf explained, clutching his neck and Aurica's backside. Suddenly, a large, floppy reptilian mouth erupted out of the same hole and grabbed both of the holy warriors, pulling them down flailing into the hole.

"Oh my god, Aurica!!" Lyner yelled, and then ran in the opposite direction on accident. Fortunately Ayatane and Vincent were more on top of things, and drew their respective blades, dashing into the crevasse.

Lyner suddenly realized his rampant Attention Deficit Disorder was messing him up (which happened more often when he was exhausted), so he spun on his heel and made his way into the pit where his party already was.

When he jumped in, he was surprised to see everyone fighting a horde of zombie life forms. Shrugging, he unsheathed his giant blade of Love ;) and dashed around, slashing in a variety of swordplay forms. Although these zombies were stronger than those he had slaughtered on the Neutron Sea, they still each went down after one or two eviscerations.

Within minutes, the pit was cleared, giving Lyner an opputunity to check out his surroundings. There were numerous tunnels, and an object in the center was emanating a peculiar violet light. Lyner stepped forward and analyzed the relic, which was in the shape of seaslug. "Hey Luke, I think I found a sculpture of you when you were a kid!" he said, turning to their guide with a grin.

"Shut yer trap," Luke instructed, blinking and catching it as Lyner chucked it at him.

Lyner then spun around and was shocked to see Vincent exploring the inside of Aurica's mouth with his tongue. The Knight had forgotten about the High Divinator's abduction by the Zombie Dragon, which now lay drooling at Vincent's feet.

At the same time, Ayatane helped Radolf down from the clutches of the dragon. "Well, shall we?" Ayatane asked him suggestively.

Radolf blinked blankly and looked around and the snogging pair of Vincent and Aurica. He gaped and then jumped out of Ayatane's arms, running over to Shurelia.

"What? I was just saying we should get a move on," Ayatane growled.

Lyner then cleared his throat loudly. Vincent then broke apart with Aurica, ruffling his hair in embarrassment. Aurica, however, continued to look glowingly into Vincent's eyes as she slowly stepped away. This caused an unprecedented gaping injury in Lyner's heart, and he just glared at Vincent.

"S-sorry, glorious general," Vincent said sheepishly, and Lyner just glared all the more at his seeming sarcasm.

Misha threw up her arms in frustration and cried, "Can we please just get a move on?"

This calmed Lyner a bit, noticing that she had come over to stand to next to him. At least she was showing few signs of disinterest by this point, Lyner thought. He wondered how Aurica could become so taken with the slippery Vincent in so little time. Was it because he himself looked so much older nowadays, what with a full golden beard and all?

"Sure, Misha, let's get out of these freaking ruins," Lyner dictated, and everyone murmured their assent. He turned to Aurica. "Did you say you found something, Aurica?"

Aurica blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I think I found something."

Moments later, with the Seaslug artifact in tow, the heroes found their way to the moss-bearded, crooked statue that Aurica had come across.

"Well, here it is," Aurica said, gesturing wildly at it.

Radolf arched an eyebrow. "It's crooked…so what?"

Lyner gasped. "So that means there must be something under it – right?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought too!" Aurica responded gleefully, jumping up and down with him in delight.

"Hell yeah, we totally think the same way!!" Lyner crowed and embraced her giddily.

Vincent rolled his eyes and smacked his forehead at his father's retardation. As he did this, the second filled orb in his arm mechanism caught Jack's eye.

"Yo Vincent; what's with that black orb being full?" he said suspiciously.

Vincent jolted a little in surprise. "W-why what do you mean? I've always had that one full!"

"Right…" Jack said, sending Vincent one last look of suspicion before stooping to help the struggling Lyner and Radolf to lift the statue.

"What was that about, Master?" Mahine asked, coming up beside Vincent.

Vincent shrugged and muttered in an undertone. "I dunno; Michaelis may have been right about him being more trouble than he's worth."

Mahine murmured in response and touched her master's arm lightly, hugging her chest tightly to him.

Following the removal of the large head sculpture, the party found that Aurica had indeed discovered the entrance to the tunnel leading to the next level of the Eon Ruins. They traveled down a spider-ridden road alongside the same brook they had been following since the volcano. Soon Lyner noticed the water dividing up into several smaller streams, scattered amongst the rocks of the mountainside.

"Augh, it's so bright!" Shurelia said softly from beside him.

"Yeah, I know; this brook is a little different here than the past ones though, don't you think? I mean, this is grass here." Lyner said, stepping lithely across the sprouting blades of grass.

"It's not just grass," Ayatane announced, squinting his electric eyes at a near location. "Just below us is what looks to be a small glade!"

"…A glade?" Lyner said in confusion.

"As in like, a small forest…" Ayatane began.

"I KNOW WHAT A GLADE IS!!!" Lyner snapped. "It's just that nobody uses that word anymore! SO there's no reason not to just call it a small forest."

"I suppose..." Ayatane considered. "But 'glade' just sounds so much more sophisticated."

"Or! Or!" Jack exclaimed, running up. "You could call it 'small wood.' Get it? Small wood!! Haha! Ayatane and Lyner's small woods! Oh my God! HAHAHAHAHAHAhAAHAHA! Oh God!! HAhAHAHA, yep I need a drink," he said before completely shutting up and stumbling facedown into the stream, which led to more tumbling and grunting as the hunter fell into the glade.

The rest of the exhausted troupe seemed to ignore this odd happening, and trotted carefully down the hillside into the small forest (which they traversed in about six steps, it was so small). On the other side (having been reunited with Jack, whose skull had collided with a petrified tree), they were greeted by the clashing sight of a fiery orange sky, carpeted with tumultuous waves with crests nearly as high as those of the Neutron Sea. Except this time they were moving.

A small shuffling in front of the heroes redirected Lyner's gaze; there, seated in a rather tiny wooden rowboat was easily the ugliest woman Lyner had ever seen. She had wrinkly face that seemed to be distorted from having smiled an ungodly amount of time, coupled with the largest glob of neck fat that had ever bequeathed a woman. Her urine-yellow hair was pulled up in a beehive bun, and an overdose of mascara disfigured her face even more. A downright slutty attire didn't help the overall (fat) picture ever.

The 'lady' cleared her throat softly, gathering the attention of everyone. "Erm, excuse me?" she squeaked.

"Uh…yes?" Lyner said when no one else spoke up, noticing that Shurelia beside him was openly gaping at the woman.

"Could it be so that you all are, ahem, travelers from Tong Rhok?" she squealed as an eerie alien smile erupted across her already decimated features.

"I guess you could say that," the weary knight said, cocking an eyebrow. "What are you doing, sitting there what with your boat and clothes and…lack thereof?"

The garbage bag-like woman chuckled inhumanly. "I work as a ferry for the glorious island nation of Orchifest!" She bowed deeply, revealing to the men that indeed the sun and the moon could appear at the same time under the Ign Saradorn sky.

"Not bad, eh?" Jack said, nudging Lyner jokingly, who crinkled his nose and looked at the pervert in disgust.

"My name is Kathryn," the ferry continued. "We should get going, the waves look a little rowdier than usual today!"

"A _little_?" Shurelia echoed. "And if that is the case, shouldn't we just wait the storm out?"

"Tut tut, what storm?" Kathryn spluttered, an odd yellow substance dripping out of her mouth. "The sea is always like this! And when it's this _grinding_, it's just that much better!" she declared, winking at Misha suggestively. "You know what I mean, girlfriend?"

Misha smiled swiftly and returned the smile sweetly, thereafter turning to Radolf and shrugging her lost-ness.

Vincent coughed. "I'm just not convinced that the vessel will fit us all, not to mention the near-infallibility of the craft being overturned."

"Well, this boat is enchanted, thus protecting it from the waves," Kathryn informed the party, scratching her panties. "And as for the other question, (here she winked rather obviously at Lyner, who felt a sudden need to throw up) we can all get comfy, can't we?"

"Errrrr yep," Lyner said with downcast eyes.

Within minutes, the party was loaded onto the 'boat,' with Lyner somehow seated directly in front of Kathryn, who was driving from the stern. He could do nothing but stare at the thundering blue waves, which seemed to threaten his life with every moan from the depths of the tower.

"I think maybe some spells might be in order," he said worriedly, and Shurelia nodded her agreement.

"Ah but that is just what I am about to do!" Kathryn said, standing up at the back of the boat with great effort, thereafter launching into three different songs. Lyner looked at his girlfriend and the others in surprise; the woman's voice was lovely. After she resituated herself, she looked expectantly at the party.

"Um, those were very complex songs, I'm impressed," Shurelia said with her hands folded in her lap.

"Oh, why thank you, I wrote them myself!" Kathryn informed her, pinching the Tower Administrator's cheek with pudgy fingers (forcibly battering Lyner away with one of her overgrown breasts). "And we're off!" the hideous Reyvateil announced, launching the boat with sudden drive across the threatening maelstrom of blue.

Shurelia clutched Lyner tightly to her, and he put his arm around her (ignoring Misha's hurt looks from the bow of the ship).

"Oooh, are you two going out?" Kathryn queried needlessly.

"Yep."

"OH MY GODDD!!! THAT'S SO CUUUUTE! YOU GUYS ARE LIKE _THE_ PERFECT COUPLE!!!" Kathryn exploded, grasping Lyner indepently, thrusting him into the pits of her pimply breasts. (An experience that was much better when Misha performed it, Lyner knew. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to first base it with his hostess this time…)

While Lyner struggled soundlessly from within Kathryn's undergarments, Aurica turned so that Vincent caught a glimpse of her best angle. "So Vincent, where are we now, exactly?"

"I have no idea actually, my dear," Vincent admitted. "I know very little of this realm."

"OOH, but _I_ know something!" Luke squealed. "This sector of the tower is very famous because of its construction. The realm is known as the Two-Layered Lake, and travel between the two is largely impossible, making this area the equivalent of the Frozen Eye on Ar Tonelico." Aurica shot him an "I-wasn't-asking-you" look, but he carried on anyway. "This lake is the warmer of the two, known as Orchid Lake. The lower lake is called…"

Here Vincent interrupted Luke. "Hold on! I'm getting a new reading on Epimetheus's signal! It turns out she's less than fifty miles down from our current location on the tower!"

"I see, then he is probably in _Seafoam Lake_," Luke finished irritably, mindlessly fondling his new Seaslug sculpture.

"Hold on; where did you get that?!?" Kathryn exclaimed, jumping up (And finally freeing Lyner from his fleshy prison in doing so. The Knight of Elemia plopped his head down on the seat as he struggled to reattain his breath.). "Let me see it!"

"Sure," Luke muttered and tossed it across the boat to her (her fleshy chin fat caught it). "We found it in what appeared to be an underground occult temple."

Kathryn looked it up and down, stroking her gelatinous neck. "That must have been the secret lair of the Kea! This is a sacred jewel from the Throne of Orchifest, his majesty has been looking for it for months!" She looked at them all very excitedly. "Don't you see, you'll be welcomed as heroes when we make berth!!!"

"Oh yeah?" Jack said, reclining (onto Mahine, who glowered at him annoyedly). "I wonder what hero-dom entails there? Lots of lovely babes, perhaps?"

"I wouldn't really count on it," Vincent muttered to him, jerking his head surreptitiously in Kathryn's direction.

"Hey, don't say that! She has…assets…" Jack started, turning around to look at their ferrywoman, who had sat back down on her seat (which was currently occupied by Lyner's face) and was analyzing the Orchifest statuette in blissful admiration. "Which Lyner's currently enjoying," he exemplified, gesturing to the wildly thrashing knight.

At that precise time, a giant blue tiger suddenly erupted out of the tossing sea at their mystical craft. He stood upon the water like a ghastly spirit, glaring at the heroes. "Wh-what should we do?" Aurica asked, wide-eyed.

"Don't worry!" Kathryn said. "I put some- oh MY that feels so good!" she announced, arching her back in pleasure.

As the blue tiger dashed and leapt at their vessel, a gigantic black-scaled dragon (with chin blubber so massive it made Kathryn look like Audrey Hepburn) ripped out of the ocean and consumed the beast in one bite, thereafter dipping back underwater with a threatening glare at the heroes.

"Is that, um," Misha said, struggling to find her voice. "One of your songs?"

"Oh, no, no dear!" Kathryn said, who was now blushing furiously as Lyner bucked and kicked in an attempt to dislodge her. "I was just going to say that I placed multiple wards on our craft to protect us in case something does get close enough to damage us. There's nothing to worry about!"

At this point in their venture, Lyner managed to land a sharp kick on Shurelia's butt. "OH my, Lyner," she started with a blush, but when she turned around she shrieked at Kathryn's hideous grin and situation on top of her boyfriend. Within moments, she managed to dig him out, but he refused to meet her eyes, saying he smelled too bad.

A/N: Hehehe, I thought it would be interesting to create an abnormally ugly Reyvateil, just to see what it would be like. She won't be in it much longer, minus a few guest appearances later on! ;)


	8. Decimation

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 24- Decimation

(Sunset, Orchifest Kingdom)

In no time at all, the ferry managed to magically muscle its way to a giant golden arch pinned into the carpet of bright blue waves. The heroes ogled it in wonder, and even more so at the splendorous kingdom around it. The entire realm of Orchid Lake seemed to be even hotter than the volcano that the heroes had narrowly escaped from a week ago. The many blistering orange torches that shed light over the multiple waterfalls and stone catwalks added to the heat a little as well.

"This place…it's beautiful!" Radolf gasped. Indeed, the island had taken the definition of the color orange to a new extent, highlighting another combination on Ign Saradorn of both controlled flora and subtle sophistication.

"Why thank you!" Kathryn burped, allowing their craft to slide into place at a nearby dock. "There is no better paradise on the face of the planet, I assure you!"

Lyner took it all in as he mopped his face off with his hand, very grateful for Mahine's sight spell. "I wonder…is this how the Eon Ruins appeared in their prime?"

Kathryn filled herself up proudly. "M'dear, I'm fairly certain those scholars and prudes never achieved this level of…Decimation!"

"Decimation?" Lyner asked, confused. "Isn't that usually a bad thing?"

Kathryn shook her mountain-dew colored hair. "It is what makes our community unique! We take specific value in the destruction of all things, especially through…(here she smiled evilly) pyrotechnics!"

"Oh, th-that's fantastic, we'll be on our way now!" Misha said quickly, wrapping her slender arm around Lyner's gold armor, helping him towards the marina.

"Yes, yes, here you'll see much bashing in of wordly possessions: it is the only way to purify the soul!" Kathryn said zealously. As Shurelia was about to try and sneak away, Kathryn suddenly pounced forward and grabbed the girl. "Wait, m'dear!"

"W-what do you want?" Shurelia said, flinching at the woman's breath.

"Your boyfriend is, like, SO cute! Do you know how lucky you are! I want him!"

"That's…wonderful…" the Tower Administrator said with raised eyebrows. "And…why are you telling me this?"

"Well, just thought you should know!" The ogress said with a shrug. "You never know; I just might stop by for a visit later on!"

"Eh-heh…" Shurelia said, crinkling her nose and suddenly exploding out of the craft, knocking the woman splashing and cursing into the water. "S-sorry!" Shurelia cried, and then noticed a multitude of faces from around the marina looking at her. All the faces looked eerily inhuman, taking on a deranged monkey-like quality. Deciding she should probably get the heck out of there, she sprinted off to find the heroes, but was suddenly tripped by an unknown foot, landing facefirst on the wooded planks.

Her captor stood over, prodding her body over with a shining silver cane. "…This is quite a find, my brethren," he grunted at his white-eyed companion. "It would be a shame to put such a body to waste…"

"My prince – do you think she might be…the one he's looking for?" the companion said in a guttural tone.

"Don't call me that in public, you imbecile!" the prince said, baring his blood-red teeth. "Send word to my zeppelin, I believe we have found what we needed."

"Yes sir, we may as well take this enchanted rowboat out to it," another bright-eyed figure said. "Perhaps this overgrown harlot will be willing to assist us?" he said, referring to Kathryn, who was frozen in shock at the sight of the trio.

"I would NEVE-ARRRGH!!!" the Reyvateil screamed as the prince plunged a spear through her chest, using it to lift her back on the boat.

"Take us. NOW." The ape-like apparition demanded, plunging the spear even further into Kathryn's chest.

* * *

(On Orchifest Main)

The other heroes followed their intuition and found their way to what appeared to be a large bazaar.

"Check out that giant statue of a head over there!" Vincent cried, as an enormous Romanesque piece of artwork was suddenly destroyed by a man of ogre-like appearance with just one punch.

"Why do they make great artwork, just to tear it down?" Aurica asked.

"It's a thought process known as Slit Iconoclasm." Vincent muttered. "And a rather cold one, at that. These people have furthered the idea to the point of ludicrous."

"Shut up you creep, it looks fun!" Lyner said, eyeing a nearby tent filled with lavish paintings for sale. He touted the Orchifest statuette as he approached the shopkeeper. "Excuse me sir, how much can you give us for this?"

"Oh, about three-hundred of my paintings!" the bearded gargantuan replied, hungrily lusting at the statuette.

"YOU THERE!!" A nearby soldier cried, noticing the exchange.

"Alright, I'll take it!" Lyner cried. "We'll be real Orchifestians tonight!"

"Yes, you already are!" the man yelped as he reached greedily for the violet globe.

"No, stop!!" the soldier roared, giddyup-ing his giant slug mount, which dashed across the street and ran over Lyner. As soon as he trampled over the Knight of Elemia, he cried out and shook wildly to try and get rid of the green slime that covered him.

"Not again!" Lyner cried. "What is the deal with me getting sat on by overweight, slimy things?"

"Sir," the guard said, coming round and holding his hand out. "That is a holy possession of his Majesty the King. You are to hand it over immediately."

"Are you sure?" Lyner asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I-I could have someone wash it off for you."

"JUST GIVE IT HERE!" the guard screeched, nearly having an aneurysm. Lyner quickly complied, thrusting it in the welcoming grasp of the well-built soldier. After he grasped it, the guard suddenly began to lick it preciously, each long stroke of his tongue gathering a considerable amount of green slime. He took one last look at it, and then sneered at Lyner. "You and your friends had better come with me up to the palace!" He whistled in a high pitch through his teeth, summoning a rainbow battalion of hulking, bloated Seaslugs.

As Luke looked dazedly at the Seaslugs, Lyner held out his arms. "NO way!! I am NOT going on these things! Not after last time I rode a weird steed; it didn't turn out so well! We are NOT going on these!"

* * *

(At the King's palace, 3 hours later)

Fortunately the Seaslug mounts had saddles, or else the heroes would have now been covered in a prism of ooze.

As they limped in after the jostling ride, the heroes were blinded by an even more vivid hue of orange from within. Using their hands as filters for the light, they managed to make their way up to the thrones of the rulers and kneel.

"Stand, stand all you heroes!" the apparent king proclaimed from directly before them, and the party dizzily rose to their feet.

"I have received word that the seventh Ka-Ri has been recovered at last! Is this true?" the king said amicably.

"Y-yes, your grace," Lyner said, straining to see through the continually combusting orange flares throughout the room. These Orchifestians were evidently quite avid pyromaniacs.

The guard who guided the group there strode forth and handed over the statuette. "Ah! At last it has been returned to me! What a fantastic find! I gather you ran into some Kea as well?"

"Correct," Jack said. "We found this in their lair in the ruins of Eon."

"Ah! What bravery! On an occasion such as this, I believe we are in need of some decimation!" Now that his eyes had adjusted to the overflow of orange, Lyner could see that the King was quite obtuse. The ruler held the Ka-Ri high above his head and thrust it down onto the marble floor, where it shattered and flooded the entire room with a deep, drugging purple.

Immediately a chorus of "Hallelujah!" erupted throughout the hall from the city streets as the people felt the cooling effects of the purple haze.

"Oh, sire," the guard and several concubines in the room moaned in ecstasy as the overflow of purple swept numbingly through their senses.

"Did he seriously just crack that thing open?" Ayatane asked. "I thought it was holy to them?"

"It is, I presume," Radolf said. "So holy that, according to their lifestyle, it must be decimated immediately upon retrieval."

"You gotta admit though, this purple feels _good!_" Misha said, a single droplet of drool appearing at her lip as she allowed the haze entry to her head.

"Yeah, it's amazing in here now," Lyner said. "I wasn't too into the orange, but this junk is right on!"

Vincent, however, narrowed his eyes. "Something isn't right here. It seems to have some numbing agent. We should make haste and leave this place as soon as possible."

"No way, I, oh alright, if you insist," Aurica said, leaning into Vincent as she let go of her defenses.

Lyner shook his hair, plumes of purple light billowing out of it. "Alright, I guess you're right about the weirdness of the situation. I'll go talk to his majesty." He took a few cautionary steps, and then broke out into a run to go find the King, who had leapt off his balcony to celebrate with the people. Lyner looked down into the rapidly purpling city to see his majesty pounding enthusiastically on a local pair of tom-toms.

"Your Majesty!" Lyner called out very loudly as he dashed down the marble spiral to the city streets.

"Oh, young master! What can I do for you? How do you like our Purple, pray tell?" the King said, breaking away from his drum solo and folding his hands patiently.

"Oh, well it's all very well and good your Majesty," Lyner said with what he hoped was humility. "But you see my friends and me are all in a rush, and, um, we really need to proceed to the Seafoam Lake as soon as possible. Do you think you could help us out?"

"Oh, why-- urp! ---WHY RUSH?!?" the King exclaimed, having apparently surrendered control of all bodily functions. "I'll lend you my private submarine, which is the only way to get down to the next Lake. But first, I ahem! insist that you and your comrades spend the night free in my personal spa! How does that sound?" he suggested.

"Sounds, er… well, I guess I can't really complain about that," Lyner offered, scratching the back of his head. "You really don't have to, though…"

"Nonshucks, don't even think on it! I certainly didn't!" the King exclaimed, letting out a wild whoop.

"Yes, I can see that," Lyner said softly.

The King then thrust a keyring and a set of coupons into the Knight of Elemia's palm. "There, now you're all set," he grinned.

Lyner nodded. "Fantastic, we'll ask the guards for directions to your craft."

"You do that, and may DECIMATION be with you!" he exclaimed, red-faced.

The Knight smiled sadly. "And I would wish it upon you as well, but that would seemingly be redundant."

After the Knight spun around dazedly and rescaled the castle steps, an extraordinarily large hand clasped the shoulder of the King. "You have done well, your majesty," a sneering voice jeered.

"Oh, why tha-" the King began to dictate, when his head was suddenly sliced down through the middle by a gargantuan metal blade.

Its owner, Bourd Rade, lifted it and wiped the brains off on a stunned nearby child. "May decimation be with you," he said with a derisive snort to the bloodied girl as he lifted the corpse to dispose of it. After he fed it to the dogs, Bourd grinned spitefully at the palace, where he knew the heroes were making preparations for their submarine journey that they would never return from. "And tonight Lyner…my time of stalking comes to a bloody, crashing close! You've got nowhere to run to now…"

* * *

(Deep within Orchid Lake)

The party let the giant royal submarine go on autopilot as it descended to the King's private underwater spa.

"This should be pretty cool," Ayatane voiced his thoughts.

"_Cool!?_ This will be _amazing_!" Aurica screeched. "I've never even _been _to a spa! I'm so excited!

"Oh I know! I just _looove_ hot tubs! I hope they have some there," Misha said, looking pointedly at Lyner who returned her gaze blankly.

Yeeka slurped some leftover purple off of Radolf's nose with its neon green tongue. "H-hey Yeeka!" the archbishop laughed. "Man, you've sure been giving me a lot of attention today!"

The orange submarine slid peacefully into a great green patch of coral that the spa had evidently been built into.

"Isn't this great, Master?" Mahine asked Vincent, clasping his hand between hers. When he gave a noncommittal grunt in response with glazed-over eyes, she looked at him intently. "Is something wrong? You've been really out of it since-"

"Oh yeah? Bite me!" Vincent snapped, causing everyone in the party to suddenly look at him. At this he scratched his head sheepishly (in a manner eerily similar to his father) and chuckled. "Sorry…I guess I _am _a little stressed out."

"Don't worry about it," Aurica said gently, taking his other hand and becoming the recipient of the lovely Mahine's glare. "That's what spa's are for! I guarantee you'll feel better after just five minutes."

Vincent laughed and placed his hand softly over hers. "You're probably right," he said, staring lovingly into her false violet eyes. 'If she only knew how much that were true,' he thought to himself sinisterly.

Within moments the hatch slid open, and Aurica and Misha led the way out to the famed spa. The metal here was clear, and rushing water was visible throughout all the walls and tapestries, making for a deliciously high-tech feel. The soothing sound of tinkling water was everywhere, as was a prevalent use of Romanesque arches.

Lyner reached out for Shurelia's hand, knowing she would adore this place, but was stymied to realize that no such hand was there. Wide-eyed, he turned around and looked inside the sub. "Shurelia?!" he hollered, his voice cracking a little. Why did he have such a bad feeling about this all of a sudden?

Lyner ran back up to the party, who had now arrived at the receptionist's desk, now becoming increasingly annoyed at the rampant sound of active water. He quickly scanned all their heads for her familiar shade of silvery-blue hair, but… to no avail.

"Damn…" he cursed, his false eyes boring out of his sockets as his feelings suddenly took hold of his heart. He wanted very badly to smash his sword into something, but he knew that wouldn't end well for him and his friends; it would likely result in flooding. No, scratch that, it would DEFINITELY result in flooding.

He sighed and looked at his cut-up palm, grinding his teeth in manic frustration. First, seven grueling days of travel and now this? Where the hell was his girlfriend?

"Lyner!" Aurica said in her overly cheery voice, running up to him (to Vincent's chagrin). "There are three different wings to this place; the hot baths, er… Tenoktiklan, which appears to be some sort of mental release, and massage therapy!" Lyner's eyes flicked up to meet Misha's violet ones. The Star Singer was currently making some very amusing washing motions on her armpits that made him laugh out loud, despite himself.

He put a firm arm on Aurica's shoulder. "Well, they all sound very nice, but at the moment I'm craving a nice, hot bath," he said, although at the moment he really didn't want anything at all; he desired only Shurelia. Perhaps curiosity had gotten the best of her and she ran off to investigate one of the wings. He blinked the thoughts away. "Where are you going, Aurica?"

She blushed and grinned widely. "The _baths_, too!"

Vincent frowned at this. She had just signed up for the massage therapy, he had seen her do it. Since she was the only one to have done so, he had opted for that as well in the hopes of some 'alone time' with her. Now however…that would be hard to come by.

"Vincent?" Mahine said softly from behind him, fearing another outburst from her usually tolerant master. "I-I can change to yours if you want me to-"

'Attentive as always, that's my girl,' Vincent thought smugly. "No," he said crossly, "you wanted to try Tenoktiklan, be my guest."

"But-"

"JUST GO!" he ordered, his false eyes suddenly flashing a very, very deep black, dark as the night. She bit her lip to stop from crying and stepped away from him. 'It's better this way,' Vincent thought. 'This way I'll be isolated when he attacks.'

After everyone used their coupons and signed up for their respective events, the turnouts were appropriated thus: Radolf, Jack, Ayatane, and Mahine (with Yeeka spectating) all underwent Tenoktiklan; Lyner, Misha, Aurica, and Luke went to the baths, and Vincent attended the massage therapy alone.

* * *

(In the Tenoktiklan Wing)

The Tenoktiklan Wing was drastically different from the main (bath house) wing. Upon entry, Jack and the others were treated to an incredible spectacle: the room was pitch black except for some dimly lit blue steps around a large marble wall. However, when their shadows appeared on the walls, they were in the form of miniature, extremely complex cosmos, complete to the point of containing small nebulae and supernovas. As they proceeded down the steps, each hero was mesmerized by their own shadow of incredible light.

Each hero had a different colored universe. Radolf's was mostly blue, Jack's green, Yeeka's golden, Ayatane's red, and Mahine's was another color altogether; it had not yet been discovered in Ar Tonelico.

Ayatane turned and looked at Mahine's cast universe. "Wow, yours is incredible! I wonder what all these stars represent…" when he looked at her face, he noticed her eyes were puffy and her lip was trembling. He paused, breathed out, and touched her arm softly. When she didn't flinch, he pulled her close to him and embraced her comfortingly. "Go on, let it all out Mahine," Ayatane said gently, and the Omega Reyvateil buried her face in his cloth covered shoulder, sobbing tenderly. "We all need someone to lean on…" he murmured in her ear, and rested his muscular neck against hers.

Jack and Radolf saw them and stopped. "Yo…you two coming?" Jack asked with a grin. "As in, 'cumming'?"

"You're not gay?!" Radolf blurted out at Ayatane.

"I never said I was!!" the samurai hissed, breaking away from Mahine. "I've done it with Mir lots of times and- oh, sorry," he said, remembering he was in Mahine's presence.

The girl laughed heartily, for the first time in her life. "Oh no, it's alright Ayatane; I just already knew you weren't gay, that's all!"

"Oh, how did you manage to figure that out?" Radolf said, perplexed.

Jack nudged him. "I think it was probably what's known as the breadstick factor, priest!"

"Wha-?" Radolf began, but Mahine interrupted, still smiling, "Actually, yeah, that _is_ how I knew!"

Ayatane blushed as red as his old suit of armor. "I-it is?"

Jack guffawed. "Wow man, don't show your hand early or anything, eh?" He shook his head and proceeded down the celestial staircase.

As the group rounded the next bend, Ayatane peered over the edge and noticed a huge mess of a black spaghetti-like substance wriggling just below their level. For some reason these unsettled him. To shake off his nervousness, he made small talk to the lovely girl behind him. "So Mahine, you seem a lot happier now that you're away from Vincent."

"Well yeah, I guess so," the girl said. "But really, this is like the first time we've ever been apart."

"Wait, _ever?_" Radolf asked, as Yeeka peered intently all around them from his perch atop Radolf's head.

"Well, sure. He created me just a few days before you all came to the Tenba base." Mahine said admiring the plethora of lights she cast on the wall. "This _is _comforting, isn't it?"

"Well…I think it would be more so if I could understand what the heck was going on," Ayatane said with a grimace, his wide eyes scanning the whole of the room. "So you see Vincent as, what, your father?"

Mahine pursed her green lips in thought. "Well, I guess that's part of it. I am also his slave, however, and some of the things he does with me are, um…less than fatherly."

"Ah. Gotcha," Ayatane said, not really wanting to continue down that path of conversation. "Well I must say, I certainly prefer you more when you're away from him more than with him."

"Aw, thank you Ayatane!" Mahine said with a large smile. She peered down as they descended further into the swallowing darkness. Ayatane's pale white hand was reaching out to hold her, so she grinned and clasped it warmly. His hands were rough, like that of a working man, but also slender and distinguished like an aristocrat. Mahine felt something new stirring in her heart, but she couldn't place the feeling. Earlier that day she had been jarringly disconnected from her affections towards Vincent, and now this pale creepy guy seemed to be absorbing them like a sponge. Ayatane looked back at her and smiled with his expressive eyes. Mahine grinned back; if she was falling for him, she knew she wouldn't mind, even if he was a little creepy.

"Whoa," Jack said, holding up a hand to stop the caravan. They had reached a very odd cloth tent covered with ancient runes glowing in the darkness. "I've got a really weird feeling about this," the gunman said.

"Should we still go in?" Ayatane asked.

"Sure!" Mahine said, not wanting her foray into independence to end. "We're together, and we can all fight! Why shouldn't we be able to handle whatever's in store for us in there?"

"Radolf?" Jack asked the archbishop. Radolf nodded, grasping the Bible of Elemia with one hand, and the hilt of his spear with the other.

Jack then shrugged and lifted the flap to grant the group entry. Inside, Mahine was pleasantly surprised to see about thirteen very cushiony velvet benches, with a small black bathtup in the middle. "Well, this looks nice," she said, taking the newfound source of light to look into Ayatane's beautiful violet eyes. She noted that his eyes shone with an inner light that was lacking in her Vincent's.

"YEAH it does!" Jack agreed, who was mentally undressing an extremely gorgeous girl lighting incense in the middle of the room, clothed in only a tight melon-colored silk dress.

She grinned excitedly at the heroes. "I received word that a group was coming down to experience Tenoktiklan! I'm SO happy to be your guide into this otherworldly journey; my name is Tory, so nice to meet you!"

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the sorta cliffy there, but I do promise to continue my yarn tomorrow!

I really liked this one; please tell me your thoughts! That orchid-colored review button is your friend, y'all!


	9. Standoff

(Warning: This chapter contains a sequence illustrating an unsettling hardcore drug trip.)

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 25- Standoff

(Tenoktiklan Wing, The King's Personal Spa)

Tory smiled winningly and gestured to the pool of swirling black fluids before her. "Please. Enter and try to relax your nerves."

"You got it!" Jack growled excitedly and bounded in with his entire uniform on. When the others froze in their tracks, the hunter swiveled his head around at them impatiently. "WHAT are you guys waiting for? Get in here!"

Ayatane shrugged and followed Jack wordlessly into the void of liquid. Radolf, Yeeka, and Mahine, however, continued to just stare at it. Tiny black centipedes snarling with electricity appeared to be swimming around in it. "What IS it?" Radolf asked the voluptuous woman before them.

Tory shrugged and slid quite effortlessly into the pool herself. "Just a little something I had brought here to let my guests see their lives in a different light," she explained as she removed her melon dress and put it up at the side of the pool. When Radolf still looked a little iffy about the situation, she fluttered her eyes cutely and beckoned with her body as she lightly splashed the area next to her. "Come on over here and sit by me!" she treatsied.

"NO way!" Radolf assured her, instead gulping and lowering himself into the pit next to Ayatane.

Jack looked back and forth between the two incredulously. "Are you seriously gonna let that slide man?" He demanded of Radolf. "Fine! You leave no choice but to go and keep her company." And with that, he glided across the surface of the substance over to the naked beauty, who winced a little at his presence.

Meanwhile, Ayatane had helped the fair Mahine down into the pit, about to reassure her that the King wouldn't use it if it was at all harmful…but then he reconsidered that statement, and decided instead not to voice it. Instead, he reached around underwater and found her warm hands again, a gesture she returned with a small squeeze.

Noticing the two looking at each other curiously, Jack decided to up the ante a little. He put his sinewy left arm around Tory, but she immediately gagged and cupped her face. "Oh. My. Gawd!!! Have you ever heard of deodorant?!"

Jack sniffed his armpit (which contained a large tuft of curiously stringy dark blue hair) and shrugged. "Well…isn't it yer all's job to make me all nice and spiffy-smelling?"

"No," Tory said sharply, and glared at him one last time before heaving herself out of the pool momentarily to retrieve a small treasure chest from the floor (which granted Yeeka a splendorous view of her buttocks). After she resituated herself and adopted an erect posture, Tory voiced an incantation over the bronze tetrahedron, which unscrewed itself of its own accord and then dissolved into thin air, revealing a thick dark substance within.

As the cask was opened, something about Ayatane's perception of the room changed. Suddenly, it felt more threatening, and he felt more trapped. It was then that Ayatane noticed through the thick darkness of the chamber and noticed six extremely disfigured monstrosity statue heads jutting out of the walls. They appeared to be trapped in perpetual agony, in a fantastical realism that made his neck hairs stand on end.

"This," Tory said to the party with a zealous gleam in her eye, "Is a very special substance, and the second task I wish for you to do is to drink it. Will you comply?"

Ayatane locked up. What was this, some kind of perverse test? _Drink_ it? The very air of the stuff seemed to be affecting him as it was.

"What do you think we should do?" Mahine asked him with watery eyes, freeing him from his shock.

"I-I guess we should if we want to go through with the rite," Ayatane said, and Mahine nodded at this with a grim expression. As soon as he said it, however, he hung his head low and mentally berated himself for it. That substance was evil, whatever it was.

Tory grinned mischeviously and handed it to Jack. "Here, you…_big_…_hunk_…" she said as she licked his toned abs, "You can be the first to go!"

Goaded on by his massive erection, Jack said, "Alright! Let's do this thing," and then proceeded to stare down the reddish liquid for a full minute before finally tipping the basin and slurping down a good quantity. "Good God, _blood?!?_" the gunman cried as he spit some of it up.

"Yes, it is… this is a very special kind of blood that is required to truly become one with your inner self," Tory said, eyeing the bloody dish greedily. Jack continued to hold onto it and look at her as if he were seeing a ghost until she snapped, "Well, _pass it on!!!_"

The basin came then to Mahine, who also looked at it with a hint of disgust, but she barely chugged it down and whimpered afterwards. After spitting out from the depths of her throat with a harsh grating sound, she shoved the container in Ayatane's face, proceeding to submerge her face in the black liquid below them.

"Uh, Mahine?" Ayatane said worriedly, afraid of the substance's potential effects of prolonged exposure. When he received no response, he instead turned his attention to the vat of liquid that somehow found itself in his hands. As he contemplated drinking it, the dimensions of the entire room seemed to magnify terribly around him, making him feel extremely pressured and under inspection. The samurai grimaced, but then proceeded to tip the bowl into his mouth. The taste was extraordinarily sharp and loud, filling up every pore of his head as he struggled to get a sip down his throat.

As soon as he got a few drops down, he dazedly passed the dish to Radolf, suddenly not caring about anyone but himself. As he felt himself slip away, he leaned on the tiles of the pool at the edges of delirium, trying his hardest to steady himself. Suddenly realizing he needed to feel Mahine's hand, he forcibly wrenched her out of the water and held her to him.

"Mahine! What's on your head?" Radolf cried as he downed the cursed beverage, giving it back to Tory. Ayatane looked at her then and was astonished to see a grotesque black creature with giant suckers attached to her face.

"Oh my god!!" he screamed, slashing at her with his sword, taking great care not to hit her in the face.

"Ayatane! What are you doing??" Mahine demanded, looking at him furiously. "You almost slashed my face off!!"

"I-I was just…um… trying to get that octopus thingy off your face…" Ayatane mumbled in confusion.

"There….was nothing _on _my face," she said with raised eyebrows.

"Really? That's strange, cuz I thought-" Ayatane began but was suddenly whisked away to a gorgeous yellow stone bluff filled with softly blowing wheat. He looked around and immediately loved the place. It was filled with an incredible texture of peace. He breathed in the air, which smelled like a welcoming blend of cheese and orchids, and exhaled deeply.

"Ayatane!!!" Patti-o! the merchant hollered, already aloft in his smiley-face hot air balloon. "The ride's leaving! You coming? We need you!"

"Well, sure I'm coming! I wouldn't miss this trip for the world!" Ayatane exclaimed jubilantly, and jumped an impossibly far distance to the coordinates of the bouncy balloon. After he landed in the multi-colored cushions of the basket, Patti-o! helped him up and pointed down at an extremely intricate golden temple beneath them. Demonic cries of repeated hosannas rose up from it.

"Ah man, what a view!" Ayatane exclaimed.

Patti-o! nodded intently. "Just watch out for the part when they through the spears! Oh wait, here they come!" the fat merchant man declared, and sure enough, a plethora of spears, arrows, flaming cows, and wheelbarrows were suddenly launched up at his balloon.

"Oh jeez, we're never gonna make it!" Ayatane laughed goodnatured-ly. The basket burned to a crisp and Ayatane remained hanging there only by the thumbs of his forefingers, continually being pelted by all sorts of projectiles. As he was overcome by red flames and burned alive, he cried out with tears the size of water buckets, "Why, Patti-o!? Why?!"

"You're on your own now, Desmond Jr.!" Patti-o! answered from very far away, having hitched a ride on the nearby plane of Miss Charlotte Whippersnapper. With a despairing wail, Ayatane plunged on the remains of the hot air balloon down deep into the abyss surrounding the gigantic temple. He spun and spun until he suddenly got mixed up in a very strange place of darkness.

There he felt he was being strangled by a multitude of long black tentacles, and oh the blood! It was everywhere! Draining out of his eyes, out of his mouth, out of his ears, and out of his brain. POUNDING out of his brain. Why, HOW could there be so much blood as this?

From then on, Ayatane only caught small snippets of the scene around him as a cascading tumult of blood enveloped him….Jack giggling in a high pitched voice and declaring, "You have such big, pointy nipples!"……..Mahine screaming inhumanly and grasping horrifically at a dead carbon copy of herself……….Radolf yelling hoarsely and running around, trying to escape from a large green jungle lynx……..a ghastly Mahine with a face melting like a blue tarantula fountain turning to him and pondering, "Why am I so COLD?? WHY, AYATANE?!"………..Yeeka's flight pattern swirled in odd, pentagram figures in a blazing red sky……Mahine's face was now completely melted in favor of a lone chattering blue skull……the rest was lost within the ever-increasing swirl of evil crimson, which covered him and pile-drived him to the floor of this plane, where Ayatane found himself pinned to the ground by a gigantic red clown that was smiling at him insanely. The clown bared its conical jet-black teeth and jammed its incredibly huge bloody penis down Ayatane's throat and then proceeded to bang him with his balls AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN until Ayatane blacked out, unable to stand up against the massive pain any longer.

* * *

Tory looked on the four comatose heroes gloatingly. "Yes, more Tainted to add to my ever-growing collection." She concentrated and thrust her hand inside the crotches of Ayatane, Radolf, and Mahine each, each time infecting them with an overflow of black slime that infiltrated their nervous system.

"I'm sure Vincent won't mind looking after the lot of you," she cooed at their unconscious bodies. With that, she spun around in place and adopted her true form, that of the luscious body of Iapetus. She then dissolved into black gas and sank into the dark depths of the haunted room, leaving the vegetables to float in her stew until either Bourd or Vincent came to retrieve them.

* * *

(In the Main Wing of the Spa)

Lyner moped his way to the expansive hot tub room deep in the King's spa. Dazzling displays of white and green marble arched and swiveled their way across the artificial landscape, complete with transparent pipettes of water dashing through the air in random directions. He supposed he would find the place beautiful, if only Shurelia were there. How could he possibly have missed her absence? She must have only _just_ disappeared, right? He would surely notice if she had been gone for a while…

He racked his mind, but he could not clearly remember the last moment she was with them; what had happened?

"Hey Lyner! Come on in! It's _so _relaxing!" Misha suddenly said from directly below him in a bubbly hot tub.

"Hey Misha," Lyner said with a regretful smile. He exhaled and lowered his swimming trunks-clad body into the raging bubbles of the pool. "WOW, that's…kinda nice...!" Lyner sighed. It almost made him forget about his emotional turmoil.

Misha glided across the pool to sit next to him, her violet eyes glowing warmly. "So Lyner, how does it feel to be traveling again? This sure beats the relaxation techniques in Em Pheyna, huh?"

Surrendering his posture to the tempest of heat, he grinned and put an arm around her. "I suppose; there are a TON of pools around here, it's like an entire world carved entirely out of hot tubs! Why did you choose this one?"

Misha shrugged and slowly lowered her damp head onto Lyner's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his toned body. "I thought it might be nice to have some private space, apart from the rest of the…"

"THE RIVER OF HOT TUB DOOM!!" a green bikini-clad Aurica exclaimed, springing out of the veritable hot tub maze of steaming waters etched throughout the room. "This place is amazing! They've got rapids, water jets, and even a steaming hot waterfall!" she cried, arching her back in satisfaction as she reported these attractions. "How do you like this place, Lyner?"

Lyner looked up (with Misha's adoring eyes still watching him from his shoulder) and perused the incredible style of baroque architecture stretching across the roof. "It's so cool here; even though it's completely different than everywhere else we've ever been, I just feel really comfortable for some reason. He relaxed, nervously noticing that Misha's entire body was touching him.

Aurica jumped in, causing a large splash of steam. "Oooh, it's sizzly in here! What have you two been doing?" she asked with a wink.

"Nothing..." Lyner said, blushing.

"Yet," Misha supplied, causing him to redden further.

The High Divinator stretched, giving Lyner a phenomenal view of her body, much to his embarrassment, having Misha on him and all. Aurica then leaned her elbow on the edge of the pool, exposing her large breasts fairly well.

"Well?" she asked Lyner.

He blinked. Why did they always expect him to know what they were thinking? "Uh, what?"

She exhaled as the water's heat gave her upper torso goosebumps. "Who do you think looks better in a bikini?"

Misha stood up and put her hands on her hips (here Lyner got a full view of her fuschia bikini…and lots of water droplets he couldn't help but notice rolling off her breasts). "Aurica! We were trying to have a special time together! I don't think Lyner wants to be put in this kind of a situation!"

"I-I…" Lyner stammered, looking back and forth between the two.

"Look, I really don't care what you say, I was just wondering." Aurica offerred.

"Well…" Lyner started, scratching the back of his head, trying to think of a way out of this sticky situation. Suddenly all the lights flickered, and Lyner stood straight up. "Something's not right here!" he said.

"Lyner…" Aurica whispered to him.

"What?"

"Your penis's hanging out!" she said with a laugh.

Both Misha and Lyner looked down hurriedly, but quickly noticed that it was still in its cage. Lyner looked up and glared at her, although Misha kept up a healthy staring contest with the bulge in his pants. "Aurica…you have problems!"

"You're probably right! I just wanted a chance to…" Aurica never got through her sentence, however, because an extremely loud bashing noise suddenly echoed across the room.

Lyner reached for his sword and slowly climbed out of the steaming pool. "Something big is coming," he murmured.

As the words escaped his moist lips, a large pane of glass across the room suddenly combusted, ushering in a humungous flood of water. And at its front was the hulking form of Bourd Rade, only he was at least twice as tall as Lyner remembered him, being propelled forwards by the wave with his sword drawn. He was laughing even louder than the maelstromic noises of the wave.

"RUN!!" Lyner told the two sopping wet Reyvateils who had just climbed out as well, and the trio sprinted around the bend to avoid the crashing thunder of the invading wave of water. Lyner looked around frantically for a door to close to keep out the water, and finally found one as they returned to the foyer.

As soon as they cleared the doorway, he slammed the door shut behind them. "…WOW. Bourd?! Alive? We can probably take him, but that water could give us a huge disadvantage," the Knight of Elemia said.

"Lyner…" Misha said, pointing downwards, and he looked down to see a decent amount of water spilling out of the crack at the base of the door.

Lyner responded by slamming into the door with all of his might, and continuing to hold it shut. His heart began to beat intensely fast. "Okay…Aurica, I want you to start singing…"

"Lyner, look!" Aurica exclaimed, so Lyner looked behind them. There, coming from the entrance to the spa, were three exceptionally beautiful women dressed in black bat-like outfits. One had shoulder-length pink hair, one had deeply tanned skin and bright scarlet hair, and the other had several scars on her face and long silver hair.

"Hello, young half-bakes," the red-haired Reyvateil said warmly. "I am known as Tulip, and these are Gardenia and Marguerite. Prepare to witness the immediate extinguishments of your flames of life!"

"Half-bakes?!" Misha asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Why, the state of your being of course!" Tulip said, placing her hand on her hip and smiling winningly.

"C'mon, c'mon, can we get to the part where we rip their flesh off?" the wild-eyed Marguerite asked Tulip. "The f---ing half-baked Reyvateils don't deserve to live!"

The pink-haired Gardenia still hadn't said anything, and merely gazed lostly around the room, with her jaw hanging lazily open.

"Dammit girls, they're Omegas!" Lyner muttered to his two singing angels.

"Not just any Omegas, sir, we are the decorated V-X unit of Master's infantry; we have never lost a single confrontation and we don't intend to anytime soon," Tulip explained.

"If there was just one, we could have a chance…" Aurica said, adopting a singing stance.

Suddenly, the water-filled door busted open and Bourd's giant steel-gloved hand clasped Lyner around the neck, lifting him ten feet off the ground. "My, my, Mr. Barsett…who knew fate would be so kind as to grant me the opportunity to exact my revenge on you!" Bourd said, grinning to reveal a battery of sharp teeth.

"D-don't surrender, girls…" Lyner croaked, futilely trying to pry off Bourd's massive grip. A steady flow of water seeped into the room.

"Right," the girls said, albeit worriedly, and both began singing.

"What?!? These little bastards are actually going to try and fight us?" Marguerite snickered. "How pathetic; let me show you the true power of an Omega Reyvateil!" With that she launched a giant orange, bladed disk, flying at the two girls.

On cue, both Reyvateils unleashed their most powerful magic attacks, and the three spells destroyed each other in the middle of the spa lobby, spewing sapphire entrails of light arcing across the room, knocking all five Reyvateils in different directions.

Meanwhile, Lyner's face had turned blueberry purple as he continued to gasp for air. Bourd chuckled evilly. "You know what, Mr. Barsett, I have been waiting far too long for this moment to snuff you out JUST yet; I am going to savor every…LAST…drop…of your suffering!" the madman said, laughing in a low tone and clashing his teeth together in front of Lyner's face.

Bourd loosened his grip on Lyner just enough to let him breathe, and then began bashing his body through glass pipe after glass pipe, the Knight of Elemia's blood raining across the room. Misha got up and quickly assessed the situation. She ran over and unclasped her top, muttering song lyrics as she went.

"BOURD!!" She screamed, and the hulking giant looked down at her.

"Why, if it isn't the little Star-Singer?" he guffawed. "You do realize your little boyfriend here will soon be nothing more than…"

"Bourd, I…I've really missed you," she said softly, seductively stripping off her top, revealing a tantalizing amount of pale white skin.

"OH Misha…" Bourd said, analyzing her melons meticulously. He subconsciously loosened his hold on Lyner, who saw his chance and wriggled free, picked up his dropped blade and ran headlong at Bourd's crotch, unleashing Rage of the Apostles on it, marking a searing blue hole in Bourd's lower abdomen. "GAHHHHH!" Bourd roared, his face contorting with pain.

"BLAST HIM NOW!!" Lyner screamed hoarsely, and Misha nodded, unleashing a secretly prepared spell, sending Bourd's massive form bursting through the ceiling.

"Thanks Misha!" Lyner said brightly as Misha put her top back on. "Let's help-"

His voice trailed off when he saw all three members of the V-X unit effectively demolishing Aurica's body with three incredibly vivid spells.

"NO!" Lyner roared. Misha meanwhile began preparing an attack spell for him; but never got a chance to use it. The entire spa suddenly heaved with the impact of so many spells being pounded on its floor, and it suddenly burst downwards into the darkness of the inner tower of Ign Saradorn.

* * *

(A Few Minutes Ago, in the Tenoktiklan Wing)

Mahine felt an incredibly heavy weight on her false eyes as she struggled to flutter open them. It took her a few moments to adjust to the thick darkness in the chamber. Remembering her trip, she hurriedly lifted her hand to her face, which miraculously had retained its shape. Noticing Ayatane's unconscious form lying on her side, she smiled and got out of the pool, pulling him out of the ooze alongside her.

Now that he was out of the likely harmful substance, she took a good look at his face. Signs of strain and battle occupied his features, but there was something else Mahine noticed in his cheekbones: a pleased contentment that she had never seen in anyone else.

She lay beside him, continuing to stare at his effeminate face. Realizing that he was a much better candidate for a mate than she had ever given him credit for, she got on her elbows and slowly lowered her lips to his, wondering what his would feel like against hers…

…when suddenly the door burst open, sending Mahine standing straight up. "V-v-v-v-vincent!" she cried.

The blue-haired Tenba scientist just stared at her questioningly. "Uhhhh…what were you-"

"I WAS DOING CPR!!" Mahine cried. "You know, when you have to save someone? I WAS DOING CPR!!! Cuz, like, we woke up in this black gunk, and I was worried they weren't going to wake up and-"

"This…black stuff… is the _least_ of your worries," Vincent said, a smile tugging at his lips. "C'm'ere!" he said, spreading his arms for her.

Before Mahine could give him a hug, the entire room lurched ominously. "Wh-WHAT is going on?" she cried.

"We are under attack, and the enemy must be struggling," Vincent said calmly, taking Mahine by the arm and leading her to a disturbing statue. "Here, grab ahold; we might be in for a bumpy…"

His self-inflated drawl was cut short when a mighty blast reverbated in the Tenoktiklan chamber. "Wha-?" Vincent mouthed as a bubble forcefield expanded into the room, containing a rainbow of colored hairstyles belonging to different Omega Reyvateils.

A near blonde extended her fair hand to him, the bubble holding the water in inflating to surround it. "Vincent Barsett, you and the occupants of this room are to be detained and delivered to Master Michaelis immediately. Do come and take my hand."

Another lurch shook the spa complex, and Vincent grabbed ahold of the statue with one hand and Mahine's torso with the other. "Never!" he cried. "What are you doing, attacking us? We still have work to do!"

A raven-haired ninja Reyvateil shrugged. "We don't ask questions, only follow all orders without question."

Ayatane began to stir as a low rumble vibrated across the floor. "And what of my father?" Vincent hissed. Mahine raised an eyebrow in confusion. What were they talking about? Barsett? His father? Was she perhaps still under the influence of the blood?

"Don't worry; he'll be taken care of!" the blonde said, grinning with egotism. "Now, be a good darling and come with us."

"I told you I'm not budging, and I'm sticking to it!" Vincent announced. He drew his double-bladed sword. "Mahine, cast Aeros NOW!!!"

"I'm on it," she sighed and sang quickly. Very soon, she would be sure to extract some answers from her master, but that would have to wait. She formulated the song of flight, and cast it directly into Vincent's body, filling him with a lucid silver tone. He immediately rose into the air and flew at the mass of Reyvateil soldiers, twirling his sword like a tornado. Vincent swooped in and out of the aqueous bubble, avoiding both spell and sword. The Omega Reyvateils began to drop dead at a quick rate, so the remaining ones began turning their attention to Mahine.

"Uh-oh," she said when she saw a dozen pairs of Omega eyes turn on her. She quickly raised a song magic shield, but knew it wouldn't save her when they launched their almighty songs.

Vincent continued to slice up the women until he realized he was no longer the target. He looked up and saw ten spells looming over his servant and lover, Mahine; but he was too far away to save her. "NO!" he cried, diving through the sea towards her though knowing not why he cared about her fate.

As Mahine braced for the impact when the ladies stopped casting, she suddenly felt herself being forced out of the way. Through her tumbling shield, she saw Ayatane reflexively flip out of the way as the draconian spells erupted near him. "Ayatane…" she whispered. He…just saved her life…she was…indebted to him…

Her thoughts were stopped short when Vincent landed near them (having thoroughly demolished the Omega Reyvateils), offering his hand to help her up. "No thanks," she said, brushing it away and pacing away towards the black pool. Vincent gazed at her goggle-eyed, his hand remaining floating in the air.

"Mahine…" he whispered. "You- you would disobey me?"

Stooping low to the pool, she dragged both Radolf and Yeeka out of the goop. "…I'm sorry Vincent…I just need some time to think, I guess," she said, not meeting his eyes. Ayatane got the idea that he was suddenly decidedly not wanted in the room, and wisely kept his mouth shut.

Suddenly, an incredible sound launched from nearby, jolting all who were unconscious awake. "Wh…what IS that?" Radolf gasped. "Augh…my head…"

"Oh, hi Vincent," Jack said, noticing that they had company. "How was your massage?"

Before he could answer, the room shifted to a ninety-degree angle, flipping all six team members first onto the ceiling and then sending them plummeting into the black sludge spillage. "What the hell?" Ayatane said, glancing out the bubble-shield window and noticing a violent change in background. "Did we just fall…into the tower interior?"

Before long, the room started spinning in a cyclonic manner, and everyone blacked out from the centrifugal force.

* * *

(Back in the Main Wing of the Spa)

"Aurica!!" Lyner screamed again as he was sent flipping upwards into the water-filled hot tub room. The last look he got of her marked her as a burnt crisp, but he hoped something in her strong heart willed her to stay alive just a little longer.

Gravity sent him careening upwards into the now-ceiling made of solid marble. He groaned and looked over to his right, shocked to see Bourd crawling across the ceiling towards him, smiling psychotically. He barely had time to draw his sword before the man collided with him, landing a solid cut across Bourd's face. Lyner, however, got blasted so hard that he flew through the air into a pillar decorated with cutesy cherubim.

"Bwahahaha, your puny sword cannot stop me!" Bourd laughed gutterally, drawing his own nightmarish diamond blade. "You see, my DNA has been altered to make me nearly impervious to all attacks by a sword."

"…there's still no hurt in trying!" Lyner cried, springing forward using the cupid's bow as a launcher, gilded sword slicing through the air. This time, Bourd parried his blow, headbutting Lyner when he arrived.

"You know, boy, you're really starting to annoy me," Bourd told the dizzy Lyner, grabbing him by the neck again and thrusting him underwater. "I think it's about time I did away with you now…"

Lyner suddenly realized that this was his moment, what he had been training for fifteen years for with Shurelia; this was the real deal, and he was the only one who could defeat this monster. Thus convinced, Lyner braced himself and grabbed at the wound in Bourd's gut from earlier and plunged his hand within, ripping a swab of Bourd's intestine entirely out of his body.

As expected, Bourd immediately dropped Lyner, who resurfaced and proceeded to slice Bourd's face again and again with his gilded sword amid the other man's screams. After Lyner mangled Bourd's face beyond recognition, he let up to admire his handiwork, smiling proudly.

To his utter horror, the blobby remains began to laugh and laugh from an inner, unspeakable source. The jaw, now detatched, began to speak to the flabbergasted Lyner. "HAHAHAHAHAHA, I TOLD YOU, I AM NOW INVINCIBLE. NOTHING YOU CAN POSSIBLY TRY CAN DEFEAT ME, LYNER BARSETT!"

"Wh-what ARE you?" Lyner cried.

The ghoul laughed anew. "I am derived from a technology from the near future; but for now, you may better know me as Epimetheus, the Reyvateil of Demons."

"Wha- EPIMETHEUS!?!?" Lyner said, his mind boggled.

Bourd's shell roared with laughter and bashed Lyner with his diamond blade, launching him deep underwater again. At that time, the entire main area of the spa complex collided with something on the outside, splitting into two.

Lyner suddenly felt a current take control of the water in the room, and he plunged into a deep whirlpool, feeling his inner fire leave him completely, abandoning him to his doom. And doom was for some reason a very bright shade of lime green.


	10. Slaying the Beast

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 26 – Slaying the Beast

(Location Unknown)

Lyner's soul wanted to just give in and surrender to the lulling call of death, but it was curiosity alone that forced him awake; what _was_ that all-pervading lime-green glow anyway?

With an almighty groan, the Knight opened his eyes and was shocked to see nothing but green everywhere. Adjusting his eyes to the tumult of color, he realized that he was in a perpetually-turning lime-green colored tunnel. Covering the walls of the cylindrical tunnel was a multitude of even brighter Sanskrit symbols, eternally spinning along with the rest of the tunnel.

As far as Lyner could see, the mysterious tunnel extended, twirling on its busy way. "Wow…this trip just gets weirder and weirder," he said, realizing with a shock that he could see his breath. For the first time he noticed that the temperature had abruptly changed from tropical to frozen tundra.

At his feet lay Misha, unconscious but with few dents and scratches, and a nearly completely decimated Aurica.

Gasping, he knelt and procured a Healy C from his pouch. "Here; I hope this helps, Aurica," he murmured, pouring its contents into her crisp mouth. Lyner saw a bit of her skin heal, but the rest of the effects, if any existed, were negligible.

The bikini-clad Misha stirred and looked up, dumbstruck at their surroundings. "Wow…so….dizzy…" she muttered.

"Misha! Are you alright?" he said, sliding across the tunnel floor to her location. She answered by promptly turning on her side and throwing up all over the bright floor. Lyner knelt down and helped her sit up, holding her hand warmly. "Misha- I really need you now."

"Oh yeah? Why, what is it?" the dazed Reyvateil answered. Before Lyner could elaborate, she suddenly plunged forward and began to open-mouth kiss him. Although he appreciated the sentiment, Lyner gagged and jumped back. "Ew! Throw-up taste…in my mouth!"

"Sorry…I just love you so much," she said, smiling goofily.

"Snap out of it, Misha," he said, snapping his fingers to draw out her attention. He gestured to Aurica's mutilated body. "I need you to sing Paradise Cinna immediately!"

Misha seemed to notice Aurica's state for the first time since their landing. "OH MY GOD!!! AURICA!!" she cried, and, after dressing herself in the warm Kasha costume, settled herself into a meditative position over Aurica's head and began to sing the clear lyrics of Paradise Cinna. The effect was incredible; the acoustics in the tunnel conducted the song far, far down the tunnel, where it was echoed all the way back into Aurica's body with tremendous force. As Aurica's body lit up and began to regenerate, Lyner nodded and began to explore their immediate terrain.

In a nearby outcropping of the tunnel, the massive hulk of the collapsed spa lay ominously, a reminder of the unfinished battle they had recently fought. "Bourd's gotta be around here somewhere still; if we survived, then he definitely did," Lyner said through gritted teeth.

"Lyner, don't leave me!" Misha cried in between verses, and continued to sing soulfully over Aurica's body.

He nodded and walked over to her, placing his hands on her bare back in reassurance. "I know, Misha…I'm not going anywhere. I'll protect you from whatever's in here, so don't worry."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a spinning tunnel much like the one Lyner found himself in, Bourd stood towering in a dark red tunnel of even greater turbulence. 

"Master Bourd, your face; are you all right?" Tulip moaned in servitude, struggling up from her collapsed position. Hot, bubbly spring water spewed steam all around Bourd and the V-X unit. "I can heal it for you!"

"Shut up! The pain; it gives me resolve! It sends such sensations as I've never felt, flowing through the very fiber of my being!" Bourd said in glee, blood dripping from the remains of his face. "If anything, ga-hah, I'd ask you to add to my suffering!"

"What now? Our quarry seems to have escaped for the time being," Tulip said, emotionlessly helping her sisters up out of the pool of bloody water.

" LYNER BARSETT!!!" Bourd screamed in a peculiar neighing tone. "We must HUNT them DOWN…and rip their BRAINS from their heads!"

"Ha-ha, NOW you're talking!" Marguerite exclaimed, tensing for the hunt to begin. "Gardenia, have you caught their scent yet?"

"One moment," the pink-haired Omega said, leaping on top of the crashed hot tub room and arching her body as she sniffed the air. "Hmm….it seems that these tunnels are not as..." she suddenly thrusted her hand through the ceiling and pulled it back to her chest unharmed, "solid as they appear." She kept sniffing and leapt down the opposite bank, taking off at a sprint.

"Well?!? Has she found them yet?" Bourd brayed impatiently.

"Yes," Tulip said, studying Gardenia's songs as they echoed back. "Come, we must hurry!"

"Heh-heh, there'll be no escape this time!" Marguerite sneered, beginning to sing a powerful viper spell as the three took off in pursuit.

* * *

(In the Green Tunnel) 

As the time drifted by, the spinning cauldron Lyner found himself in lulled him to sleep. As he wandered through moonlit pastures in his dreams, he could have sworn he heard his girlfriend whispering.

"Shurelia?" he asked hopefully, turning around to see a disembodied orange head floating behind him.

"_WELCOME TO MY DOMAIN, YOU PATHETIC WANNE-BE HERO! GO; SEE WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOUR PRECIOUS GIRLFRIEND NOW!!!_" the head sead.

"Huh?" Lyner said as the scene changed and he saw something incredibly awful happening, with Shurelia's intricate screams hardwiring all of her pain directly into his skull.

As a ghastly inhuman ape-like face filled his vision, Lyner suddenly snapped awake. What had happened back there…now that he had awaken, for some reason he couldn't recall what had become of Shurelia; only that it was horrible.

His vision settled on the comforting image of Misha working with her Elfin spell Cinna (that he had grown to know so well in the Soulspave), and he opted to observe the progress of Aurica's recovery.

After a few more minutes of watching Misha sing, Aurica's body was finally restored (except for her clothes, of course). Misha fell back, exhausted from the delicate labor.

"Aurica, can you hear me?" Lyner said, kneeling down next to her and holding her hand.

"Lyner…I'm…dying…" the High Divinator moaned.

"No! Stay with us, Aurica! Stay with me…"

Aurica's eyes fluttered open, alight with a strange terror. "Lyner, I need you! Please!"

"A-a-alright, I'm right here…" he said, trying to place the odd light in her eyes.

"Good," she said, jutting her neck forward, making out with him with an urgent passion that was simply delicious. Lyner couldn't take much of it though, and broke it off before things got out of hand.

"Look," he said as she insisted on biting and suckling on his neck. "I didn't save you, Misha did! So rightfully, you should be doing this with her, not me." He felt bad for Misha not getting any credit for her hard work, after all.

The two girls looked at each other in consideration, and then threw their heads violently in the opposite directions. "Umm, I don't think so…" Aurica said sheepishly.

"Maybe only in an emergency," Misha added, blushing terribly.

Lyner got to his feet and helped his singing angels to theirs. "So…shall we take a look around?"

"Well sure," Aurica said, shivering terribly as she covered her private areas. "We've gotta get out of this cold, fast!"

Misha nodded, clutching to Lyner to share body heat. "Yeah…it's weird that Bourd hasn't attacked us though; maybe he died!"

Aurica wasted no time in clothing herself with Song Magic, donning her very endothermic Don Leon costume (making Lyner much more at ease with the situation). "Somehow, I _doubt_ we're that lucky."

"I wonder if any of the rest of us made it here okay?" Lyner said, still looking around in awe at the bizarre location in which they found themselves.

As he said this, a distant cluttering drew their attention. Out of the rubble, a very beleaguered Luke emerged and leaned on a pole. "H-hey, guys," he squeaked.

"Luke! You're alright!" Aurica said, relieved.

"…what have you been _doing_?" Misha asked. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Th-that's not really important right now…" Luke said, slightly shifty-eyed.

"Ooookay…?" Lyner said.

"I was actually just conversing with the great seaslugs up there in Orchifest," he said with a smile.

"NO!"

"You didn't!"

"I COULDN'T HELP IT!" Luke responded. "I'd never seen such big seaslugs before; I couldn't help myself!! Make it stop!!"

"Are you finished?" Lyner said strictly.

"I hope so."

"Good, because we'd better try to recruit the rest of our team before we run into Bourd again. He's like…I think he's possessed or something," Lyner said with folded arms.

"_Possessed?_" Aurica faltered. "By what, like a demon or something?"

"Well, all I know is, he should be dead with how many times I nailed him, and now he's starting to act like a puppet…and he said he was Epimetheus…" Lyner whispered.

The green tunnel seemed more alien the more time Lyner thought about it; he felt it somehow added to his overall fear. But it wasn't just fear he felt, but also a crazed rush of adrenaline; Shurelia was probably still alive, and he needed to find her as soon as possible!

"Come on, let's go," Lyner said, and led the way deep into the tunnel, away from the spa wreckage.

The tunnel wrapped first to the right, and then up and around like a complex wormhole. Like the Neutron Sea, the floor was a little flexible, and thus gave the heroes an added spring in their step, increasing their overall vigor.

"So, where do you think we are, Luke?" Misha said politely as they slid down yet another slick green slide.

"Well, as you might have noticed, the spa complex very clearly collapsed _into_ the tower." Luke said. "So obviously, this tunnel must be part of some elaborate inner source for the magic of the tower."

"What do you mean, source of the magic?"

"Well, the people of Ign Saradorn draw upon an ancient form of magic to do their bidding, one that used to rely on the planet's inner energy to create spells. With that plentiful source now completely destroyed, these people must have some kind of strong source within the tower here from which to obtain magic." Luke's beady seaslug eyes ran across the ceiling. "I can sense a great amount of unkempt magik here, and this is very near the center of the tower, so these tunnels could be the very source of which I speak."

"Wow…you're, like, _really_ smart!" Aurica exclaimed. "That was like, at least five sentences! That's, like, _such_ a good quality in a man. No offense, Lyner!" She added as an afterthought.

"None taken. And I'm not your man," Lyner muttered, eyeing a massive green cliff that the tunnel suddenly ran into.

"So Luke, what'd you see in Krusche anyway? She's so mean all the time, and she's um…not exactly very pretty!" Aurica queried.

Luke smiled. "Well, we never really were _actually _together. Her constant flirting while we were on Ar Tonelico together all those years really drove me crazy. But I guess I had gotten used to it more than I realized, for after I spent a few years here I could think of nothing else than reuniting with her. And that's what got me in trouble, of course…"

"Ohhh, that' so sweet!" Misha cried, throwing a comforting arm around Luke. "Once we reanimate her, she'll be all yours!"

"Misha!" Aurica hissed. "What about Jack?"

"Jack?" Luke asked, oblivious. "What about him?"

"Save it," Lyner griped from the front. "Look at this giant cliff, everybody!"

"Oh yeah, that's a cliff alright. What about it?" Aurica said.

"…it's presence indicates that we have arrived at a dead end," Lyner dictated. "See? I can talk smart too!"

"Wow, that's so sexy Lyner!" Aurica said, clapping her hands together, eliciting a very loud echo.

Misha stepped forwards toward the cliff, but suddenly shot off straight up towards the ceiling with a WHOOSH sound.

"MISHA!" All three yelled after her.

"I-I'm alright," Misha said in a breathless voice from above, having caught onto the cliff face and swung herself up onto level ground. "I guess the ground right there's really bouncy or something."

"Really? That can't be right," Luke said, stepping forwards confidently and similarly rocketing upwards along the cliff.

Lyner and Aurica remained at the bottom apprehensively. "Well, I guess that shows you for acting like Vincent. That is to say, a douchebag know-it-all," Lyner said matter-of-factly, and used that stab to goad himself into jumping onto the springy green ground, after which he blasted upwards like his comrades.

"What do you have against Vincent anyway, Lyner? He's a perfectly fine gentleman under most circumstances," Aurica said as she squeezed her eyes shut and gingerly stepped on the bouncy part of the floor after him.

"Yes, _Lyner_ what do you have against me?" Vincent's voice rang out snidely from behind Lyner as he watched Aurica's ascent. Everyone whirled about.

"Vincent! Radolf! You're alright!" Aurica squealed, embracing both of them.

"What, no warm-breasted welcome for me?" Jack said, stroking his chin in disappointment.

"Hey Harm, good to see ya," Misha said with a roll of the eyes. "Thought about Kathryn anymore?"

"You know what, she had nice big tits, that's all it takes to please me," Jack explained.

"Oh, well it's good to know you have a high bar of admission," Misha quipped.

"Well, that's what she said…" Jack trailed off.

"How did you…where did you come from?" Lyner asked grinning at the six people (including Yeeka). He couldn't help but notice that Ayatane was standing _very_ close to Mahine…or was that just his imagination?

"Well, we awoke in a bizarre blue tunnel…" Ayatane said in reminiscence.

"…after which Yeeka flew off into a wall, and he didn't come back out. So intrigued, the natural response was to follow him," Vincent interrupted. Lyner mocked him visibly.

"And we landed in a bizarre yellow tunnel instead. Believe it or not, I _am _capable of telling the…" Ayatane began.

"We made sure to keep an eye on Yeeka just in case Shurelia was looking for him," Radolf said, craning his neck to scan the group. "Where is she, anyway?"

Everyone looked expectantly at Lyner. "I…I don't know, everyone, she's been missing since the spa," he said somewhat sheepishly.

"Are you serious?" Mahine said. "So that means she could still be up in Orchifest?"

"Yeah," Lyner nodded, "but our first order of business is either making it out of here alive or killing Bourd. We can always find a way back up there if Shurelia really is still there."

"Hey, speaking of Bourd, look what we found in the yellow tunnel!" Jack said, taking a small stone obelisk out of his pouch. It looked very similar to the Ka-Ri that the king of Orchifest had destroyed earlier, only this one shone with an inner blue light.

"What does this have to do with…" Aurica began.

"_Thank god! There was no air at all in that pack!_" the statue said.

Lyner and Luke jumped. "Whoa, it talks?!?"

"_Of course! Now, I believe you know of the man named Bourd?_"

"Yeah, he's like possessed or something," Lyner said.

"_He's more unstable than you think. The possession only occurred after he was resurrected, a process that has rendered his cellular intactment very brittle._"

"So what you're saying is…he's easier to slash through now?" Lyner asked.

As Vincent smugly shook his head at his father's stupidity, the statue replied, "_No; since his new body was derived from equestrian genes, he's actually now even tougher than before. The bonding of his genes was faulty, however, and he is slowly reverting into a werehorse as we speak._"

"What? A werehorse? That doesn't sound very good!" Radolf said, stroking Yeeka's scaly skull with wide eyes.

"…and it kind of sounds like 'warehouse,'" Jack said with a snicker.

Continuing, the statue pulsed with more blue light and dictated, "_Once he fully reverts to a purely monstrous form, he will be both mindless and nearly invincible. For this reason, it is of necessity that you do away with him now_."

"So…do you want us to explode you like we did with the purple one?" Lyner asked, scratching his head.

"_No, my powers of decimation have a greater use in this case; it is imperative that you manage to stuff me into his body before he becomes an unstoppable force_."

"Alright, can do," Lyner said bravely. "So…what do we call you?"

"…you may call me whatever you wish."

"Hmm…" the Knight of Elemia thought. "How's about…Zane?"

"…_alright, Zane it is,"_ Zane said.

"Hm, Zane? Not bad, Lyner, I didn't know you had it in you," Aurica said.

"Well hey, 'Yeeka' was not me, that was Shurelia!" Lyner said, wiping his hands clean of the matter.

"No; I was actually referring to that atrocious song you wrote that one time."

"Oh yeah…" Lyner said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"_Anyway, let's go dispose of Bourd, before it's too late!"_ Zane commanded.

"Right," the party collectively said, and they proceeded to walk further down the green tunnel.

"So have you been in the green tunnel the whole time?" Ayatane asked Lyner.

"Yeah."

"And you haven't seen any signs of Bourd right, yet?" Jack asked.

The four shook their heads.

"AND you're still here. Genius!" Vincent snorted. Suddenly he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Mahine asked, ogling him with wide violet eyes.

"…do you hear that hissing sound?" Vincent said, slowly turning to look behind him. Noticing a ill-boding shade of violet from further down the tunnel, he roared, "GET DOWN!!" and thrust both Mahine and Aurica down on the floor.

Everyone ducked just in time to avoid a crystalline blacklight snake erupting throught the air just above them. "It's gonna come back, Misha, pull up a shield for us!" Lyner muttered.

"Right," the Reyvateil said, and pulled up a defensive spell (Meteor) to counter the demon snake which was, indeed coming around for another pass. At the same time, all three members of the V-X unit came running around the corner behind the party, all of them deep in song craft. Tulip and Gardenia slid to a stop and launched the most monstrous spells Lyner had seen yet; a giant pterodon shape with a head like an eight-armed venus fly-trap, and a blue, frosty dragon titan.

"Cut through it, girls!" Lyner shouted from the front of the group, where he was getting a good view of Marguerite's giant serpent clashing violently with a scalding hot steel pan.

"Right!" Mahine and Aurica responded, casting Black Vivisection and Sword Slash, which gouged through the beasts and rocketed towards their casters, disrupting the spells.

With the serpent gone, Lyner commanded, "FORWARD!" and the party made haste to run further down the tunnel. The next area was jarringly different; circular steel plates covered nearly every surface, forming a sort of bus-stop looking environment. More noticeable, however, was the towering form of Bourd, grinning savagely in the middle of the station.

"Hello, everyone!" Bourd said, full of good cheer, and immediately slashed a wide sweep with his diamond blade, maiming the front row of heroes as they slid wide-eyed into the room (Radolf caught the brunt of it).

"GET BACK!" Lyner commanded, and the people in front gladly complied as Bourd slid forward with an insane grin, slashing again. "Aurica, cast a healing spell; Mahine, maintain a lookout on our flank; Misha…" he looked at the gigantic possessed man, who was still swinging at elephantine speeds. He appeared even larger than last time, although Lyner supposed it could have just been his imagination. And he was about to turn into something even fiercer, according to Zane? Lyner squinted and could barely make out the incision that he had carved into Bourd. So he had to stick Zane in there? He took a deep breath; so be it.

"Yes, Lyner?" Misha answered, dropping into a songcrafting stance.

"Cast a healing spell on me, too!" Lyner said as he burst out of the party crowd and parried Bourd's violent swing, his biceps vibrating from the impact.

"Okay," Misha said, and began singing.

"Cover him, Jack!" Ayatane said.

"On it!" the gunman said and rained a stream of bullets at Bourd's mutilated face.

"Arrgh!" Bourd roared out, raising his sword to block the influx. Lyner saw his chance, gripped Zane tightly, and made a fevered run for Bourd's crotch area. Halfway there, however, he suddenly ran into an electricity-covered lapel that was launched in front of him.

"What the-" Lyner farted and spluttered as he was electrocuted, and then collapsed on the steel panels beneath him. Zane rolled out of his hands, and exploded uselessly on the tiles next to the party.

Misha looked around and saw that they had company; very disturbing company, that is. A horde of fierce-eyed, white-furred monkeys had appeared around them, with noticeably blood-red teeth.

"Do not destroy this work of art!" one of the apes laughed in a guttural hooting manner. "THIS is the first werehorse to develop in many a year, and our scientists have been waiting for a chance like this!"

"We mean no harm, whoever you are!" Jack said, walking forward with raised hands in a gesture of peace. "We just want to continue down the-URGH!!"

"Whether you do or not makes no difference!" Another ape laughed insanely, throwing a barb of intense electricity on Jack. "We are the masters of this realm, and you have desecrated our holy land." He gestured around them. "These tunnels are the power source for the glorious Pulmer Kingdom! And you have been stomping around, damaging them! You will be put to death for your insolence!"

"Wh-what do you mean, werehorse?" Bourd asked them in confusion.

"Shut up, you pathetic half-breed!" the ape that had just been speaking hackled, blasting an electric cord into Bourd's incision. The former man screamed in a high pitched voice, collapsing on the ground with tears of pain streaming down his face. "MORE! It needs MORE power!" the ape announced gleefully, and the others responded by shooting one electric cord each into Bourd's abdomen. As Bourd writhed in pain, squealing like a slaughtered pig, Misha didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or think it served him right. She settled on feeling sorry for him.

As Bourd bucked and threw up from the torture, his screams slowly turned into high-pitched neighs and brays, and the remains of his face contorted until he slowly came to resemble the form of a giant humanoid horse, tail and all. Bourd the werehorse got up then, foaming at the mouth, and neighed in victorious rage, before dashing forward and trampling to death the nearest ape.

"MORE lapels! Take that f---er down!!!" an incredibly ugly ape laughed, and a dozen more lapels were fired amongst Bourd's now-gargantuan bulk, electrocuting him severely.

"Stay quiet, everyone, maybe we can sneak away!" Misha suggested quietly, and the party slowly began to back away.

"Where do you think you're going?" a voice said from behind them, and everyone whirled around to see yet another band of monkey people, holding the sizzling corpses of Gardenia and Marguerite, with the bound and gagged Tulip being prodded in front of them.

"…oh shoot," Aurica said.

Behind them, Bourd had been successfully put to sleep with the plethora of electricity. The leader climbed upon the werehorse and stabbed a bloodstained flag into its body, making it whimper in its sleep. "I claim this specimen in the name of his majesty Wilmpveb Pulmer!" He regarded his now-surrounded quarry. "As for you, prepare to be bound and shackled for the journey to meet his majesty the emperor!"

The party surrendered and allowed themselves to be bound in a similar manner as Tulip. When the monsters got to Mahine, however, they paused and analyzed her gorgeuous green locks. "Prince Dethgr!" the soldiers, said, thrusting her to the audience of the yeti leader still atop Bourd.

"What?" Dethgr snapped, regarding her and Tulip, who they also dragged to the front. After a second, he suddenly gasped.

"Does your majesty find favor with them?" the apes grunted in respect.

"Yes- they-they're perfect!" he stuttered, his beady black eyes running over their exquisite bodies. "They must be taken expressly to my father!" He clapped impatiently at his bodyguards. "Aren't you finished, yet?"

"Carry this," one soldier said to the other as he heaped Jack and Lyner's unconscious bodies in his arms.

"Understood," the other said, bearing the weight quite easily.

"Finished, sire!"

"Very good, let's make haste to Castle Vingardim." With a flair of his arm, Dethgr carved a small silver tunnel into the wall of the green one, and led the way into the makeshift one.

As the party was led single-file, but interspersed with soldiers to keep an eye on them, down the tunnel, Misha felt a fierce blast of cold air hit them. She wondered bleakly what awful place fate was going to lead them to next.

* * *

A/N: 

There you go. Review pleeze:P

Next Chapter: The Pulmer Kingdom!


	11. Destiny

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 27 – Destiny

(Near Seafoam Lake)

The team was led down the silvery tunnel out into the open, howling wind of a bleak, smoggy environment. The group emerged into a large, shallow conical pit made entirely of solid blue ice.

It was gusting and raining quite a bit, so Misha looked up in wonder, and was shocked to see a leagues-long ocean directly above them. The entire mass of water was pulsating red, and she could see the dark silhouettes of hulking sea creatures exploring the bottom of their watery ceiling. Gravity was fighting a losing battle against that great red sea above them, but succeeded in drawing a bit of water down to earth through precipitation.

Spooked by this odd environment of blue ice, gray skies, and red watery ceiling, Misha turned wide-eyed to Lyner's body, which was being toted along by one of the yetis. "Lyner? Are you all right?" she asked.

"SILENCE! No talking amongst the prisoners!" the ugly ape said, baring his crimson teeth.

Misha laughed nervously, but wisely spoke no more. Before she turned back around, though, she could have sworn she saw Lyner wink at her.

The group traveled to the deep blue center of the concentric crater, where Dethgr raised his muscular white-furred arm and lit a laser beacon with a ring on his finger. Within minutes, a squad of three roaring fighters dove and landed near the party, at which point Dethgr and the other yetis loaded Tulip and Mahine on separate crafts, and attached Bourd's comatose werehorse form to the belly of another fighter, tying yet another lapel from his wire-ridden body.

Once the fighters streaked away across the sky, Dethgr whirled around and faced the shivering party members. "LUNCH BREAK!" the prince ordered.

"Uh, sir; we didn't bring any food…" some of the men reminded him.

"Shut up! I know that!" Dethgr growled. "We surely don't need to bring back _all_ these prisoners, do we? We already turned the most important ones in!"

"Oh _yeahhh_," the apes said, turning and approaching their prisoners, lapel launchers at the ready.

Immediately, a large amount of commotion occurred, with a battle cry being sounded from beyond the edges of the blue crater and lobbed fireballs flying and exploding near the yeti camp.

"Damn! On guard, everyone! It's the freedom fighters!" Dethgr roared, staggering from an injury derived from one of the fireballs.

Over the crater came running a large mob of more white-furred apes, waving sabers and weaponry in the air. "Attack!!" a gorgeous female voice rose over the noise of the advance, and the freedom fighters wove in and out with their flamethrowers, broiling the heroes' captors alive.

Lyner saw his chance and slashed himself free with his massive gilded sword. He dashed over and decapitated the ape that had been carrying him and then proceeded to run down the line of his friends and slay all their captors as well, careful not to harm any of the advancing guerrilla forces.

After Lyner and the attacking force disemboweled all the evil monkeys, Lyner tugged off his gag and the commander of the new group held up her palm to stop the attack and stepped forward. Lyner was surprised that she appeared so dainty, for a demon monkey soldier, that is. Realizing that it looked like he was checking her out, Lyner quickly stood at attention and raised his eyes to her face, which was far less ugly than that of the male yetis.

"Come no closer, human," she warned, her hand on her gun. "Am I right in guessing that you have a quarrel with Wilmpveb Pulmer as well, blond-haired warrior?"

Lyner nodded. "Yes. We were on our way down the tower when we were suddenly taken hostage by these monsters. They have already sent two of our party to Castle Vingardim."

"Wait; you consider Tulip one of our party?!" Radolf asked. "Surely not Bourd?"

"No; I think...Shurelia might be in their captivity also…I had a dream where a fat monkey was raping her…or something," he told Radolf.

"That fat monkey would be our evil emperor, Wilmpveb," the yeti girl said, a smile tugging at her lips. "Nearly all he does is rape beautiful girls and try out his latest hare-brained scheme to open a portal to the demon realm."

"Sounds like a terrible emperor," Lyner said. "I take it you all are rebelling against his rule?"

The girl nodded vigorously. "Our base is not too far from here, but its wall has just been breached. This," she said, gesturing to the mob behind her. "Is the whole of our forces, and we have been driven out of our home. SO I'll strike a deal with you, blond-haired warrior…"

"…drive the enemies out of your base and you'll help us to attack Wilmpveb?" Lyner asked, grinning.

"You got it," she said, satisfied. "We'll need the power of your Reyvateils to win back the fort."

"Very well, it's a deal," Lyner grinned, sharing a look with the rest of his team, who nodded back.

"Great! I-I'm Kit Pulmer, by the way." The commander said, running a hand through her shoulder-length silver hair.

"Lyner Barsett," Lyner answered, and introduced the rest of the party one by one. After that, the now-freed team stomped their way along the ice under Kit's direction.

"I do apologize if I seem rude, but what is your race?" Vincent asked Kit, coming up alongside Lyner, who shot him an ugly look.

"We…were once men," Kit said coldly. "We had many villages in the beautiful frozen bluffs to the south of this lake."

"Wait; THIS is a lake?" Aurica gasped, gesturing at the frozen terrain around them.

"Yes, this is all that remains of Seafoam Lake, the lower of the Two-Layered Lakes," another ape said from near Kit.

"Oh yeah, this is Kerak Pulmer, our head engineer," Kit said. "But yes, Lady Epimetheus outfitted us with the ability to freeze on a massive scale, and with that power we conquered this entire lake and made it our own. However…with Lady Epimetheus's sickly mark inside all of us, we slowly lost control of our actions and became mere pawns for her will. And recently, under the oppressive reign of Wilmpveb, I think we've lost all since of direction altogether as a culture…"

"But we, the Freedom Fighters, stand for hope for Pulmers everywhere!" Kerak said, pounding his light blue chest. "We have each had a second birth, and came back to our humanistic tendencies. That means we can think for ourselves, and that gives us a leg up on Wilmpveb's army of puppets!"

"Ah, I see," Lyner said, looking at the ice beneath his feet. "So where is Epimetheus now?"

"_Lady_ Epimetheus," Kit corrected, "resides in a thick prison of ice just a few miles beneath us, which has served as her home for over one-hundred years. Why? Do you seek her out?"

"Uh, eventually, yes," Lyner said. "But first we need to rescue our friends from Wilmpveb's castle."

"I'm sure she will grant you an audience," Kit said, smiling with her eyes. "You have quite the winning personality."

Kerak, Aurica, and Misha frowned at this. After ten more minutes of traveling across the frozen lake and discussing the history of the civilization of Seafoam Lake, Kit ordered everyone to hide behind a small mound of snow. "Do you that massive wall, Lyner?"

Lyner peered over the top of the hill, his spiky hair frozen solid from the frigid temperature. "Of course I see it, is it possible to miss it?" The mechanical wall was at least a mile wide, and the emperor's troops lined it in two layers.

"Within is our base, Redtown," Kit said.

"Ohh, now I see why you need our help," Lyner grinned. "May I?" he asked Kit.

She stared at him wide-eyed but gestured the 'go-ahead' sign.

"Aurica, prepare Dragonferno and launch when ready. Misha, I want you to make a Lv. 4 Glacial Ball and hold it, can you do that?"

"Yeah," the girls answered and sang their respective tunes. When Aurica launched hers, the legendary orange dragon swooped in from on high and coated the entire wall and fort within with wreathes of raging fire.

"What are you doing? You'll wreck the entire town in the process!" Kit screamed in Lyner's ear over the screams of Pulmers being burned alive. The excess of snow that filled the town and the wall turned to gushing water that flooded the streets of Redtown.

"Just watch. Are you ready, Misha?" he shouted.

"Yeah!" she said, violet false eyes flaring. She launched Glacial Ball, which plummeted directly in the middle of the roaring flash flood, freezing it solid. The ice that Glacial Ball created covered the entire wall, and even spread out to the heroes' hiding hill.

"Ambush complete," Lyner said, smiling satisfactorily to Kit. The Pulmer girl rolled her eyes and got up, walking along the bridge of ice built by the girls to get a better view. Lyner gestured for his team to follow, and they all walked along the bridge behind her. When they got up to the top, Kerak threw Lyner out of the way to get a better view.

The entire town was frozen into one humongous ice block. Lyner could see lovely brick streets and pretty antique streetlamps lining the roads.

"Looks like a nice town," he said with a grin to the Pulmer commanders.

"It _was_ a nice town, you mean," Kerak said, glaring at Lyner.

"No, it's perfect!" Kit said, running over and hugging Lyner tightly (conspicuously sliding her bare hand across his chiseled chest as she did so). "There were only enemies in there, after all. Now we can just cut through to the inner base and leave them frozen until after we do away with Wilmpveb, when the mind control should have worn off. Did you really think of all that?" she asked Lyner adoringly.

Aurica and Misha stepped in between them. "Lyner's actually had a lot of experience being a field general," Aurica said defensively.

"Yeah, he pretty much single-handedly saved all of Ar Tonelico!" Misha put in.

Kit's eyes widened. "Wait, wait; you're all from Ar Tonelico?!"

"Yeah, what of it?" the Reyvateils said.

"Ohh, Lady Epimetheus has foreseen your arrival. She said to treat you like gods!" Kit gasped. "I'm so sorry for doubting you before. I'll follow your every order from now on, Master Lyner!" she curtsied for him.

"N-no, don't call me Master," Lyner stuttered.

"But Her Ladyship wishes it!"

"O-oh, alright," Lyner said. He wondered why Epimetheus could possibly want them to come here, when they had just come to end her life. Shrugging, he ordered Misha to sing Void Slasher, which created a very slim slash made of dark matter straight down, all the way through the ice. The surrounding cylinder of ice was sucked into the subsequent vortex, detailing a passageway into the base. "After you, Kit," Lyner said, trying to be polite.

Kit blushed furiously and crawled down the passageway on her back. Lyner followed, and eventually everyone else in the party plus Kerak and a few others made the descent as well.

* * *

After making preparations in the frozen base, they went to the hidden garage, which contained a stolen fighter from Wilmpveb's fleet. 

"So this was made by Pulvers?" Jack asked, eyeballing the ship in all of its glory.

"Yes, overseen by Wilmpveb himself," Kerak said. "Of course, I made a few alterations to its functions, so it's fairly reliable now."

"'Fairly reliable?' That sounds promising," Ayatane said.

"Shh!" Misha said. "Be nice!"

"I know, I know; hey, as long as it gets us to the castle, I'm happy," the samurai said. "The sooner we save Mahine and Shurelia, the better!"

"So…you're getting fairly close to Mahine, aren't you?" Misha said, raising and lowering her eyebrows craftily. Vincent overheard this as he climbed aboard the aircraft and paused, waiting for the answer.

Ayatane shrugged, unsure of his feelings. "I guess so, I'm appreciating her a lot more now that we know she's an Omega!"

"Riiight, I can see what's in your eyes when you look at her," Misha grinned. "You looooove her!"

Ayatane blushed and looked around like a squirrel caught in headlights. "N-n-n-n-n-NO I DON'T!!"

Misha shrugged. "My mistake."

Ayatane looked up at Vincent warily, feeling the hot blush still on his cheeks, but the scientist had already walked inside and secured himself, apparently having not heard the conversation.

After everyone boarded and the engines fired up, the fighter took to the skies, bursting through the icy surface of the lake and soaring through the nearly-black smog. An entire battalion of Pulmer troops had accompanied them, while the main bulk of the army stayed behind to re-establish control of the base.

"So, what's our heading?" Lyner asked Kit, who was piloting the craft.

"Oh, I dunno, could you please locate them, Kerak?" she asked the blue-furred Pulmer sweetly.

"Wait, you don't even know where the castle is?" Lyner asked incredulously.

"I thought you knew, Master!" Kit laughed. "The castle is inside a giant black zeppelin! It's famous tower-wide, or so I thought."

"Oh," Lyner said, thinking furiously. They would need quite a different battle strategy taking on a blimp than taking on a castle. "So, are you ready for the big battle?"

"Oh, me?" Kit asked, surprised. "N-no, I'm not going…"

"You're kidding," Lyner said, blinking. "You are the commander of this entire operation, and you're not even going to come along?"

Kit wordlessly took the coordinates from Kerak and entered them into the ship's mainframe. "Wilmpveb and I have a…troubled history," she said.

"You mean you were one of his sluts?" Lyner asked.

"Lyner!" Aurica reprimanded him.

"No, he's right, I was one of his sluts…" Kit said with downcast eyes.

Vincent snorted. "Well! I certainly can't speak well of his taste in women!" This earned him an immediate smack from Misha. "Kidding! I'm just kidding…"

Kerak stood up and barked at Vincent, "Enough! I don't care where you are from, you will not insult the princess in such a…HAWKGWLEAB!!" (His statement was cut short as Kit swatted him across the gonads)

"SHUT UP, YOU MISERABLE OLD FART!" Kit cried.

"Wait, princess?!" Jack said. "So, I've been checking out the princess this whole time?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the…wait, what?" Kit said, snapping her head around to glare at Jack. "Don't check my out unless I give you permission, prick-snort!"

"Alright, alright, my mistake," Jack said, taking off his hat and bowing in humility. "I was just charmed by your unwavering beauty and grace from the moment I met you, your highness."

"……..Okay, you can check me out, I guess," Kit said, blushing furiously.

"WAIT A SECOND!!" Ayatane roared, standing up. Everyone regarded him. He shook with an inner fury. "So Mahine is Wilmpveb's prisoner right now? Doesn't that mean…so right now…she's being….ARRRRGH!!! I'll not let his ugly monkey penis in her any longer!! We're coming, Mahine!"

Vincent backhanded him across the face. "We're _all_ worried, you moron. She'll be alright, you'll see."

Ayatane fumed to himself, looking like he had half a mind to attack Vincent then and there. Everyone turned back to the front of the craft.

"You're Wilmpveb's daughter? But I thought you said you were Wilmpveb's whore?" Aurica asked the princess.

She nodded. "Yeah...ever since I can remember, I was his sex toy in his free time. He's popped more cherries than any other Pulmer can lay claim to, and…I was one of those whose lives he ruined. I…can remember the first time clearly, on my eighth birthday…" her voice choked here.

"Oh, Kit…I'm so sorry!" Misha gasped. "That's _horrible! _I guess you have plenty of reason to hate him then, don't you?"

"Don't pity me," Kit snapped. "Although I appreciate your goodwill," she said a little more softly. "sigh It's all the inspiration I've ever needed to found this force for freedom, with the knowledge that someday, somehow, his evil head will be nothing more than a decoration on a spear in my front lawn."

Everyone was silent. By now, the Pulmer fighter had risen to a grim height, midway between the red ocean above and the field of grey clouds beneath. "There, you can barely see it," Karek said, pointing at a small black silhouette among the red-shaded clouds in the distance.

Lyner put a hand on Kit's shoulder. "Thanks for telling us, Kit."

She nodded. "Of course, Master. But now you see why I can't accompany you."

Lyner raised an eyebrow. "But…why not?"

Kit rolled her eyes. "I'm terrified of him! After spending sixteen years as nothing but his grimy wet rag doll, he has complete control over all my emotions! There's no way I can face him!"

"…Alright, but I think you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you pass up this opportunity to set things right."

"Is that a threat, Mr. Barsett?" Kit said with a teasing smile.

"No, of course not! It was my attempt at a philosophical statement, which obviously failed," Lyner said, running a hand through his hair.

"I was just joking, Master," Kit said wrapping a shaking arm around him and pulling him close in a hug (causing him to almost lose his balance). "You're probably right but…once I set foot in that zeppelin, I reckon I'll be completely useless. You don't want to babysit me the whole time, do you?"

"So…how are we going to get in?" Luke said, gazing out the side window at the nearing black zeppelin, with the face of a fat greasy-furred Pulmer plastered along its side. "Should we have Misha cut through with Void Slasher like we did to the ice back at Redtown?"

"I was going to blast a hole with the lasers on this thing, but sure, that sounds like it'll draw less attention. Good thinking, seaslug man," Kit said.

Misha looked to Lyner for affirmation, who nodded, so she prepared Void Slasher as the fighter pulled alongside the huge zeppelin.

"You'll have little time to jump over, since the zeppelin's skin has an auto-regenerative capability," Kit said, opening the side panel. Lyner's party crouched among the Freedom Fighters to make the deadly leap after Misha launched her spell.

"NOW!!" Lyner commanded after everyone was in position. Misha cast her song, which enacted a great gash across the zeppelin. The party wordlessly leapt into the fortress, with Lyner and Luke staying behind to make sure Misha got across okay. Luke barely made it in before the zeppelin's black mesh grew back.

Lyner looked around their bleak surroundings. The inside of the zeppelin had taken on a quasi-medieval tone, only with giant gears turning everywhere. Moats, long bridges, and grandiose black castles made entirely of rotating cogs dominated the scene, giving the zeppelin its very own flavor.

"They definitely know we're aboard," Lyner told his group. "So let's get moving. Any idea which castle is Wilmpveb's?" Kerak pointed to a hulking, ominous black one nearly a mile away, carved into an artificial mountainside. "Oh, of course. Well then, let's go, and try not do draw any undue-"

At that moment, a sight in the floral garden to his right caught Lyner's eye. A group of caped Pulmers were pulling the frantically kicking body of Bourd Rade (or what was left of him) into a giant wooden house that was sizzling and sputtering with electricity.

"Check it out!" Lyner said.

A Pulmer next to him jumped. "Whoa! That's a lot of wasted power!"

"No, not that! Bourd's in there!"

"So? He's getting his just desserts. Let's just move on," Jack suggested.

"Oh, desserts? That's great, I hope they taste good," a Pulmer sympathized.

Lyner stroked his golden beard. "Jack, I give full command over the Freedom Fighters over to you."

Everyone looked at him like he had just gone barking. "Really, Master?" one of the Pulmers asked.

"Yes. I'll take the rest of my party to check out Bourd's condition. We'll catch back up with you later. But on the off-chance that we don't…don't wait around for us," Lyner said, as if his plans made perfect sense and should never be questioned.

"Alright, let's do this," Jack said, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically and leading the way onto the large chrome bridge pointing towards Wilmpveb's castle. The Pulmers, a bit more hesitantly now, followed in the perverted gunman's footsteps.

As an afterthought, Lyner added, "Command every word Mr. Hamilton tells you," and an unenthusiastic murmur answered him. With a shrug, Lyner whirled about and trotted over a stone ledge and into the flowery garden that held the electric house.

"Lyner, stop!" Misha called, and he slid to a stop, turning to regard them. His party ran up to join him. "Are you sure about this? What are you planning to do?"

Lyner shrugged. "I'm improvising," he said, turning around and dashing sword-raised into the lightning house. With a battle cry, he burst open the door and ran amok, unleashing an apostolic combo on the first two Pulmers in the room before the others could even react to this unexpected attack. As they raised their lapel launchers and fired at him, Aurica burst in, song at the ready, and splattered them with a Gaia Bombard.

"Nice one, Aurica!" Lyner said, and walked straight back out the door where he came from, leaving Bourd the werehorse sizzling in an electric pit in the middle of the room. As Lyner stepped out, he heard Bourd whine and knew he had gotten him where he wanted him.

Grinning mischeviously, Lyner walked back inside and regarded Misha's former captor. "I never thought I'd be in this position, you miserable piece of scum," Lyner said, folding his arms and looking down at the pathetic monstrosity that Bourd had become. "Would you like me to free you?"

Bourd nodded vigorously, which was hard for him to do, being constantly electrocuted and all.

Lyner stroked his beard and bent down next to his archenemy. "Listen, Bourd; these Pulmers have been treating you like garbage from the moment they collected you. No, even worse; a _specimen_ of weird science!" Bourd stared up at him with scarred eyes, his emotions unreadable. "Not only that, they've captured your hot trophy Reyvateil, Tulip, and she's still alive, up there in the dude's castle," Lyner said, jerking his head backwards.

"Now, you listen to me. Let's work together, for just a second, and kick this guy's ass, fighting our way to freedom. After that, you can have that fair shot at me you've always wanted, fair enough?"

"Yeah," Vincent said, crouching next to Lyner. "Just think, if you help us, afterwards, you can peel all the flesh from Lyner's bones! And _eat_ all of his organs, like his intestines and his spleen! Doesn't that sound good, boy?!"

Bourd nodded enthusiastically again with pursed lips.

"Eh? Eh? You'll get all that and more once you help us kill Wilmpveb and crush this zeppelin," Vincent said, grinning and allowing the werehorse to lick his hand.

"Thanks, Vincent. So will you help us?" Lyner said.

Bourd smiled extremely creepily with his mutated horse face and nodded again. Satisfied, Lyner carefully cut loose all the bounds holding the werehorse down. Once freed, the monster neighed and jumped out of the pit on its hind legs, finally escaping the confines of its electric prison. It started jerking its head in a weird manner.

"What's it doing?" Radolf asked, cocking his head.

"I think, maybe it's trying to tell us it wants us to ride its back?" Aurica wondered.

"Really? That would be SO tight!" Lyner said, clapping his hands together excitedly and vaulting on top of the werehorse. Bourd now had an extremely long back (nearly as long as a sei whale's), so there was more than enough room to fit Lyner, Aurica, Misha, Vincent, Radolf, Luke, Yeeka, and Ayatane.

Once they were all on, Bourd knew what to do. With one strong stride, he pummeled through the garden house and bounded high into the artificial gear-covered sky. He ran up the many gangplanks and twisting cogs along the ground, up towers and across courtyards all at a breakneck speed. Any lapels shot at the group missed by a large margin.

"Can't you go faster, you pansy?" Lyner taunted, and Bourd respond by leaping high into the air and prancing along the lead cliff face horizontally. A battalion of lightning sizzled across the dark room, dancing along the giant metal castles and reflecting off their hulks.

"Wow…"Ayatane said, his draw dropping at the artificial world.

"How can lightning even exist inside a zeppelin?" Radolf wondered.

"I dunno, but it's cool, isn't it? I tell you what, I wish I had lightning in _my_ mansion!" Lyner said, grinning maniacally.

Vincent jeered, "Actually, Lyner, you _do_ have lightning with in your mansion; every time you take off your shirt, HA! HA! HA!" (Bourd snickered at this one too as he bounded from steeple to steeple of more castle spires)

"…Shut up, Vincent. I hate you."

* * *

(_Within Wilmpveb's Chambers_) 

An injured Shurelia groaned as she fought an uphill battle to regain alertness. She had just woken up, and was gagged and tied up, but no longer in a soft, blood-soaked mattress like before. She had blacked out without realizing it, presumably from loss of blood.

Shurelia wriggled around a bit to get a feel of what she was tied down to. Apparently she was lying vertically on some hi-tech slab of hard-wiring. Shurelia glanced around the red-tinted circular room; Wilmpveb's abode was covered with red velvet. Two other nude girls, Mahine and a beautiful feisty-looking redhead, were strapped to other towers that looked like the one she was on.

Then the pain came on. It began within her abdomen and scalded throughout the rest of her being. Gasping inaudibly, she tried to look down and examine the huge bite marks Wilmpveb had left on her. She couldn't see much from her angle, but giant chunks of flesh had been stripped from her chest. Having seen way more than she wished to, she paled and looked at the others instead.

Mahine, having no natural eyes of her own, looked especially freaked out, and fang marks were all over her body as well. The redhead looked more eaten than whole as well, but her eyes were sharp, and Shurelia could almost hear her brain whirring behind her eyes.

'Damn him,' Shurelia cursed her captor. 'How are we going to get out of here?' She tried not to think of how the demon ape had forced himself inside of her, munching into her body all the while. Shurelia shuddered. He had taken her most important gift she had intended to give to Lyner; would he still take her back after this? 'Stupid question,' Shurelia thought with a smirk. 'Lyner's not like that.' She knew he would accept her back, if only she could find her way out of this zeppelin fortress.

A sudden noise from downstairs jarred her from her thoughts, indicating someone's presence; Wilmpveb was back. A whimpering, crying female voice sounded out, coupled by Wilmpveb's coarse, wolf-like voice. A few moments later, Shurelia heard the pair struggle into the master bedroom, where for about five minutes obvious intercourse insued, with the girl's screams of pain and bloodloss detailing every single action Wilmpveb did.

After the screams finally stopped (he had either eaten her or pummeled her into a coma, like he had with Shurelia and her two roommates), the fat demon came stomping into the mechanized room, blood dripping from his lips and chin.

"Ladies, ladies, are you ready for your ultimate destinies to finally be realized?" he asked greasily, somehow speaking through his viper-like set of red fangs. He stepped forward to the complex tetrahedron of energy in the center of the room. "Do you believe in destiny, ladies?"

Not waiting for an answer (since they were all gagged), he continued. "Well, I do. I think each of you were made for a purpose: the will of Epimetheus." For dramatic effect, he flared a code of light from his laser ring into the tetrahedron, which flashed at grew into a large fat circle, rotating in the middle of the room. "The prophecy calls for a girl with hair as blue as the windy sky, a girl with hair greener than a mermaid's scales, and a girl with hair like the very fires of Yggr. I believe that this prophecy is talking specifically about you three luscious ladies," he said, running his eyes over all their bitten chests. "Your symphonic power cores each have an incredible source of energy, when harmonized, will finally be able to open a gate to Yggr, Epimetheus's realm." Wilmpveb smiled, which was always a scary sight. "It is time to fulfill your fates, and be the tools Epimetheus requires to return to this world!" With that, he entered another laser code into the tetrahedron, and it spun even faster, firing tractor beams into each of the girl's breasts.

Shurelia moaned as her world felt like it was being splintered apart. The pain she felt before was nothing. She clenched her fists, willing herself to stay alive as her very soul cannonballed out of her chest into the glowing sphere before them.

Wilmpveb stepped back and looked on eagerly as the image of a foreign place slowly appeared in the middle of the room. It eventually became detailed enough so that an elaborate golden palace was visible through the sphere.

A figure that was standing on the top of the palace in the vision swooped down to the portal. It was the gorgeous orange-colored body of Epimetheus. The Reyvateil with eyes of the bloodiest red and hair more yellow than the sun on the clearest day slowed down to a hover in front of the gate. "Freedom!" she moaned, and Shurelia could feel her pleasure as she spoke, soothing her bleeding soul as she kept the gate open.

Tears appeared in the evil monkey's eyes. "Epimetheus! I never thought I'd see you again!"

Epimetheus frowned at him. "What do you want this time, you failure?"

"I won't fail this time, my Lady! The portal will hold, and you'll be free!"

Epimetheus grinned and hugged herself in anticipation. "You better not mess this up, or it will be on your head, Wilmveb."

Suddenly, a great commotion came from downstairs, and Wilmpveb impatiently stomped over to his staircase. A herd of Pulmer troops had just scrambled through the door.

"WHAT do you want, you incompetent baboons?" Wilmpveb roared.

"Y-Your majesty, the freedom fighters have somehow boarded the zeppelin and are making their way here!"

Wilmpveb rolled his eyes. "Our forces outnumber theirs ten to one. Wipe the floor with them."

"But sir, they're being led by a single insane human gunman, and we are quickly losing ground to them…"

"A human, eh?" Wilmpveb said, stroking his chin. "He must be here to rescue the chosen trio. Humans are especially weak in their genitals; just castrate him and you'll be able to take him down."

"Yes sir," the troops said, and ran back out the way they came.

The emperor rubbed his hands together and paced back into the portal room to observe the gate's progress.

* * *

Bourd and has cargo eventually made their way up to Wilmpveb's crimson castle, hiding in a rock crag. Just above them, several massive blue-furred Pulmer giants stalked, massive guns at the ready. 

"There's a lot of energy being consumed up in the palace, did you see that?" Vincent asked the others.

"Yeah, there was a whole bunch of light emanating from the topmost tower," Radolf said, giving Bourd a drink from his water bottle. "There's definitely something going on up there."

"I hope Harm's alright, those defenses looked pretty sound," Misha said worriedly, and Lyner put an arm around her.

"Bourd, do you think you can take down those giants?" he asked.

Bourd nodded assuringly, grinding his long claws on the stones in anticipation.

"Alright, what I want you to do is run up there, take down the giants as fast as you can, and then scale the castle up to Wilmpveb's balcony," Lyner instructed. "You ready?"

The werehorse responded by mooing and then dashing around the corner and up the hill to the palace grounds. The giants immediately opened fire on them with strawberry-red laser beams. Bourd leapt over them and slashed the first one all the way through in mid-air. After landing, he surged to the next one, the beams barely zipping over the heroes' heads, and bit through his entire belly. The belly-less giant moaned hoarsely and collapsed upon himself.

Bourd was zapped on the flank by a nearby giant, and by now more troops were firing at him from the many windows of the castle. "Never mind the giants, just get us up to the balcony!" Lyner screamed over the tumult.

Their steed took off and leapt onto the very side of the red palace, clawing its way up to the top as fast as it could run vertically. The heroes were surrounded by a cloud of blue and red beams, and Bourd had miraculously dodged all of them so far.

Once they made it to the final tower, though, a guard looked out of the window directly above them and shot Bourd directly between the eyes. A fountain of foam flew out of the werehorse's mouth, and he flipped off the tower wall. Lyner instinctively jumped for his life, grabbing onto the windowsill and swinging himself up to kick the gunner in his face. He pulled himself up onto the ledge and looked down to see Bourd getting shot throughout the entire descent back down to the steel ground below. His party, however, had wisely followed his lead and jumped onto various ledges throughout the wide palace wall.

But Lyner was the highest. Fondling the hilt of his sword in anger about Wilmpveb's evil ways, he growled and jumped onto the remaining cogs that led up to the Emperor's velvet-covered balcony. Climbing up the rotating gears made him all the more grateful for Bourd's scaling prowess; he hoped the mutated man had survived so that he could give him proper thanks.

Lyner soon made his way up to the evil monkey's lair, which was currently emanating a variety of shades of light. He silently drew his sword and crept into the chambers, almost gagging when he smelled the reeking stench within. The light was coming from a room to his right, so Lyner slid alongside the wall to peer in. When he saw Shurelia moaning in terrible pain, rage flooded through his bloodstream.

He ran over with his sword raised and was about to slice down Wilmpveb's back when he noticed a gorgeous girl out of the corner of his eye. He froze as he saw an orange-skinned being in the center of the room waving at him. "Hi Lyner!" she said cheerily.

"Epimetheus?" he asked in wonder. 'Oh goddess, she's gorgeous!' Lyner thought as he gazed into her welcoming red eyes.

He suddenly realized that he was right in front of one of the most evil beings on the planet: Wilmpveb Pulmer. He looked at the ape to see his beady black eyes glaring at him in surprise. "Oh…hi!" he said shakily, with his sword still raised.

Wilmpveb responded by blasting him backwards with a beam from his laser ring. He flew back into another room, which had been covered with a velvet curtain. Lyner landed on something soft and gushy, and looked under him to notice that he had fallen on a massive pile of bloody, cakey skeletons, both human and Pulmer. He screamed at the horrific image; all their empty eye sockets seemed to stare directly at him.

Lyner heard Wilmpveb coming, so he picked up his sword and cut through the curtain when he judged the ape close enough. He cut a solid gash through the evil monkey, and a satisfying splash of blood was displaced. Wilmpveb shot a beam at him, but Lyner anticipated it and jumped over it to his left, cutting Wilmpveb across the leg as he landed.

The monkey winced and howled, "HELP ME, EPIMETHEUS!!!"

To Lyner's surprise, the demon Reyvateil shook her luscious blonde hair. "No. I am awaiting an audience with Lyner, as it happens. I never told you to attack him." She regarded Lyner. "You may kill him, my destined lover."

Lyner didn't know what to say to that, but couldn't say he disagreed with the whole killing Wilmpveb part. So he slashed downwards, but unexpectedly fell on the receiving end of a punch from the emperor. He had only scratched the surface of Wilmpveb's face, but found himself sliding across the bloody floor, crashing into Wilmpveb's red throne.

Wilmpveb and Lyner both rose to their feet, but lost their balance when a huge impact shook the entire tower. The ceiling lit on fire, and boards fell down in between Lyner and his quarry, flames filling the room. He cursed; he HAD to get to Shurelia before it was too late!

Kit then dropped through the ceiling next to Lyner. "Hi master! I decided you were right, after all!"

"Princess! I'm glad you're here," Lyner said warmly. "But how are we gonna get through the flames?"

Fortunately, Misha ran up the stairs to the throne room as well. "Misha! You're alright!" Lyner said, hugging her.

"Oh, I'm so glad you made it too," Misha smiled. "Here, I'll take care of those flames for you." She sang Tear God double time, which quickly doused the raging fire.

The trio leapt over the obstacles and saw Wilmpveb surrounded by laser energy and floating in mid-air.

He laughed evilly even though he only had one leg and his stomach was draining out. "Well, if it isn't my little pussy, Kit? And another virgin hottie, I see! Maybe I should keep you around, Lyner, if you're going to give me quality sex kittens like this."

Bourd then surprised everyone by jumping through the balcony and slashing through Wilmpveb's energy shield. He fell to the ground silently with a thump, and Kit said, "Let me."

She walked up and aimed her pistol at her father's head. "My, how gorgeous you've become!" He laughed, blood bubbling up in his mouth.

"You really should be thanking me for putting you out of your misery," Kit told him derisively, although her gun was visibly shaking.

"You can't do it!" Wilmpveb laughed. "Just take your top off and milk me some, you tramp!"

Kit hiccupped and sniffled, watery tears clogging her eyes. She lowered her gun. "You're right. I can't do it."

"It's okay, I've got it," Lyner said, and stepped forward, but Bourd suddenly shot his fanged horse face forward and bit off the emperor's head, crown and all.

Everyone froze. "Well… guess that's one way to do it," Misha said.

Red lights flashed throughout the palace, and everyone's stomach lurched as the zeppelin nosedived. "Wh-what's going on?!" Lyner asked, grapping ahold of Misha and Kit.

Kit squeezed her eyes shut threw herself at Lyner, hugging him very tightly. "I couldn't do it! I-I failed! Why?!"

Lyner hugged her back, but said, "Kit, what's going on? Why is the zeppelin falling?"

Kit harrumphed and raised her wet face up to his. "Every soldier in my father's army was under his direct telepathic control; now that he's dead, they've all ceased to function. We're doomed!"

"So the workers have stopped keeping us afloat, eh?" Lyner said, stroking his beard. "This isn't going to be pretty."

"Lyner, look! The Reyvateils!" Misha said, tugging him towards the room containing Shurelia.

"Right, let's free them!" he said, running over and observing the tractor beams pulling light out of their chests. "Are they going to be all right?" He noticed for the first time just how much they had been mutilated.

"I don't know! Here, block the beams with your shield, and I'll untie them," Misha instructed. Lyner nodded and held his sword up to deflect the tractor beams zapping into Shurelia while Misha ripped off her constraints.

As soon as she was free, Shurelia squealed, "LYNER!!!" and jumped on him. Lyner pulled her close and kissed her passionately, massaging her tongue with his with as much soul as he knew how to convey. Misha wrinkled her nose and squeezed Lyner's hand while observing the portal begin to flicker. Epimetheus waved at her and blew a kiss.

Lyner pulled back and winked at Shurelia, and then turned to work with Misha to free Mahine and Tulip while Shurelia sang a healing spell for her and her friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kit sank to her knees next to Wilmpveb's headless body. "Daddy…you're gone…" she whispered, and then screamed, "Why don't I hate you?!? I want to…SO badly!" Kit stared limply down at the gun in her hand. It's barrel was so assuring, so final… 

Making up her mind it was for the best, Kit took one final deep, quivering breath, and gently pushed the gun into her mouth. She had been a screw-up all her life, and she still couldn't do the right thing when she had no excuse not to. She whimpered, whispered, "Lyner, I love you," and squeezed the trigger.

* * *

A/N: Let it be known to the world that I have not yet checked this chapter for grammatical mistakes; once I have time, I will proofread it. 

That said, please take the time to review and tell me what you think!


	12. The Perpetual Cycle of Satisfaction

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 28 – The Perpetual Cycle of Satisfaction

(Aboard the Emperor's Imperial Blimp)

As the impossibly huge zeppelin of Wilmpveb Pulmer plummeted vertically toward the ground, the resounding wind swept about its curves at just the right velocity to create a high pitch of evil noise that was impossible to block out. The pitch echoed throughout the entire zeppelin, which was now ghastly empty of all activity now that the majority of all Pulmers around had dropped to floor, unconscious, after their Emperor's murder.

The noise, embodying that of impending doom, was also to be found in the crumbling palace of Wilmpveb Pulmer, grouped with a cacophony of other noises as well. Explosions, songs, and the smashes and spitting of wildfire all inhabited the bloody remains of the throne room.

The noises were little deterrent to Lyner Barsett, who had just freed the lovely Mahine from her bounds. "Are you alright, Mahine?" he shouted, clasping a steadying hand on her bare shoulder.

"Never better," she smiled as Misha and Shurelia's songs allowed her skin to rejuvenate into its usual youthful cleanliness. "Although I must say I'm impressed by your new level of comfort around nude girls. Remember that other time at the beach?"

"Well," Lyner said, raising and lowering his eyebrows suggestively. "If you'd remember, immediately after said time at the beach, I spent a great deal of time with a certain nude girl…" he suddenly blushed in embarrassment, feeling Shurelia beam at him. "Ahhhhh……I've gotta go!" He said, running around the laser fixture to Tulip. Their eyes met, and without hesitation he handed his sword to Mahine. "Here, block the beam so I can free her."

"Okay, I trust you know what you're doing," Mahine said, taking the sword from him and using it to deflect the beam. Lyner was about to start untying the stuff when he looked down and realized he would have to be touching Tulip's bare, bloody breasts to do so.

"EWWWW!" he said sullenly.

Mahine rolled her eyes. "You're pathetic, you know that? You need some help?"

"NO! I-I can do this," Lyner said, blinking aplenty in order to steady himself to grab his first boobs ever.

"We believe in you, Lyner!" Shurelia cheered from the sidelines.

Sensing her sarcasm, he looked at her derisively. "Shut UP!!!" Groaning, he put his hands on the gorgeous girl's massive curvaceous chest and undid the wire as quickly as he could. Breathing easier now, he undid the gag and pulled it off.

Tulip spat out a bit of blood and stood on her own two, wobbly feet. "Why did you help me? I'm under orders to kill you!"

"What, no thank-you? I just went through a lot of unpleasantness back there, so I think some thanks are in order."

"Yeah, touching your breasts was a big step for him," Mahine said, nodding seriously.

"Shut up," he muttered, stepping on her foot.

"Oh alright then," Tulip said, putting her hands on her bare hips. "I'm sorry you had to suffer through the terrible awfulness of touching my breasts while you saved me."

"Damn right you are," Lyner said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Princess Kit stick her own pistol into her mouth. "Uh…could you hold that thought, please?" he said, and started towards Kit. "Hey Mahine, if she tries anything, go ahead and slice her in two," he said over his shoulder.

"Are you kidding? I can barely lift this thing!" Mahine shouted at him. Another shudder shook through the zeppelin, and the entire palace swayed.

"Is he yours?" Tulip said with a small smile.

Mahine rolled her eyes. "No, thank God! What an idio- wha? Lyner? How long have you been standing there?"

Lyner had suddenly reappeared at her shoulder, shuffling uncomfortably in the presence of two flawless nudes. "Uhhhhh monkeys like bananas, right?"

"Um, yep."

"Could you make me one?"

"Sure, but, uh…why?"

"I need something to cheer her up! It's worth a shot isn't it?"

"Here, I got it," Tulip said, and cast a banana for Lyner- in his pants.

He looked down at it blankly and blinked. "Um…why did you put it there?"

"For ease in stowing," Tulip said, winking at him. "Go get 'em, Tiger!"

Lyner made a face at her, and heard Kit whisper, "Lyner, I love you," and realized she was about to pull the trigger. "NOOOOOOO!" he roared, and leapt through the air towards her arms. He pushed them away so that the gun ripped out of her mouth with a resounding POP! and it fired into the nearby velvet curtain.

Kit looked up at him and blinked, her mouth parted just enough so that Lyner could see a bit of her sharp crimson teeth. She sobbed and fell into him, and unsure of what to do, he just patted her on the back.

"Uh…forgive me if I'm hearing things, but did I just hear you say you love me?" Lyner asked blankly.

Kit nodded intently and gave him a warm kiss on the neck, squeezing him all the tighter.

"But…you do realize that…you're a monkey…right?"

The princess pulled back and laughed despite herself, looking up at him with sparkling eyes. "Well…you really weren't supposed to hear me say that. Because, you know, I'm supposed to be dead…it's kinda weird."

"No, not at all!" Lyner said while stroking her back, hoping it would help her to not want to kill herself. "I was just…wondering what was going through your head."

She held his head very close to her face. "All my life, I've never had any feelings for anyone, except my father, I suppose, and those were only twisted feelings because of the sick pleasure I gave him…" Here, she trailed off and sighed, staring blankly out into space. "I still don't really know what I thought of him. I'm so confused…" She sniffled a little and sighed (again).

"Look, don't be so hard on yourself. You did a great thing, you helped save your people from slavery!" he said, smiling and kissing her on the cheek.

"Yeah, I know, I know," Kit said, brightening a little. "But as I was saying, then I met you, and… I dunno; something about you just made me feel at peace. Whenever I looked into your deep violet eyes… I mean, you're just so honest, and smart, and brave and strong, and oh!" She said, raving about him to his face.

Lyner was used to this kind of lavish praise back on Ar Tonelico, but a horny monkey on his lap telling him this with love in her eye was a little much. He cleared his throat and peered around uncomfortably.

"You're just amazing, Lyner!" Kit said. "I guess you could say that when I'm with you…I can feel the murdered human within me stirring awake again."

Before he could respond, the castle tilted on its side and the two were tossed down the hallway into a corner, with Lyner lying on top of Kit. She stared into his eyes dreamily as she ran her hands down his pants and felt his butt.

Lyner could feel himself blushing. "Uh…Kit…"

"Do you love me too?" she asked, pulling him down to her face again. He knew what was coming; she had pursed her lips slightly, and was going in for the final stroke.

Hearing a loud crash, Lyner looked up and saw Bourd flailing down the hallway towards them at a most opportune time. "Look out!" He cried, and jumped with her out of the way, with Kit landing on top of him this time.

"Lyner," she moaned, her firm, perky breasts jiggling directly in front of his eyes. "I want you _so_ bad right now!"

"I know you do!" Lyner said with a gulp. "But don't you think you're taking things a little-"

"Oh my god, what's this!" she asked moving around on the banana in his pants. "Is this a banana in your pants or do you want me REALLY bad too?"

"Well, funny thing is, it really _is_ a banana in my pants. How bout that?"

Kit cocked her head. "Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's take a look, shall we?" the princess said, grinning mischeviously and reaching down his pants. She frowned and took out a genuine banana. "Wow…it really was one."

"Yup."

"Huh…" she said. "Awkward."

"Sure is."

"But I can fix that so we can get back on track!" Kit said sensually flattening her body on his, so that he was feeling a whole lot of her all at once. She peeled the banana and began to suck it very slowly, licking it a little every now and again.

"…what are you doing?"

"I'm pretending that this is _really_ your 'banana!'" Kit murmured, raising and lowering her eyebrows.

"But…it _is_ my banana."

Kit slapped her hand to her forehead and took a bite of it. "HEY- now see, that's not a very nice thing to do to my banana!" Lyner reprimanded her. "You see why no guys like you, you pull that crazy stuff on 'em!"

"Now you're making fun of me!" Kit grinned and tossed the banana, kissing him all over his face in adoration.

Jack suddenly opened a horizontal door near them and observed Kit on top of Lyner. "Dammit! You've gotta be kidding me! ANOTHER one?!" he yelled at Lyner. He stepped in the topsy-turvy throne room, with several Pulmers behind him.

"Jack!" Lyner said, getting up and helping the princess as well. He put his arm around her waist, but in reality he just wanted to get as far away from her as possible. "You made it! What should we do?"

Jack shrugged. "It's up to fate now that the zeppelin's diving. We'll just have to see how bad the landing is I guess."

"What are our chances of survival?" Kit said, drawing herself up and petting Lyner's chest, which was moist with nervous sweat.

"I'd say close to none. We've been picking up momentum for a long time," Jack said, mopping some sweat from his creased forehead. The four Reyvateils from above slid down the tilted floor, having all taken the time to re-clothe themselves.

"Hey Lyner, whaAAAAAAAT are you doing?!" Misha said, looking at Kit squeeze him protectively.

Fed up with it all, he wrenched himself away from her and jogged over to them, cheerfully saying "Hey girls! Are you ready to die?"

Jack chuckled behind him and swaggered over to a very hurt-looking Kit in order to hit on her.

"Lyner!" Shurelia cried out and jumped into his arms again. "Thank you so much for rescuing me! Did you really have a dream about me?"

"A brief one, yeah," Lyner said. "I think I saw a shadow of what Wilmpveb did to you, do you want to talk ab--"

He was cut off as the zeppelin crashed into ice with an earth-shattering impact ripping through the entire mobile world. The combined noises and shockwaves were too much for Lyner, and he and the girls all collapsed in a heap of pain together as they were propelled upwards through the air.

* * *

A few moments later, Lyner struggled an uphill battle to open his eyes up. Groaning and struggling up despite an awful pain in his back, he realized that Aurica had landed, sprawled on his legs, still in her doll in Leon costume. "Aurica!" he said, jiggling her with his leg.

"What?" she said annoyedly as she swung herself upright with no little effort. She smacked her forehead twice and shook herself awake. "Oh! Lyner! How are you doing, GASP!!! did you kill Wilmpveb Pulmer?"

"Yeah, I did," Lyner said. "I…think…maybe…I helped or something." He shook his head of such pointless trifles. "Yeah, I-I pretty much killed him."

Aurica giggled and pecked him on the lips. "Yay! My hero! You saved all the people in this….lake," she paused and dropped her arm in mid-gesture. "…Where ARE we?"

The zeppelin had plunged very deep into the ice indeed, or so it would seem. Surrounding Lyner and Aurica were huge, monolithic cliffs of solid ice, white as Wilmpveb Pulmer's fur. Their vehicle, as it were, was precariously balanced between two cliffs dropping off into a deep gorge. The two heroes found themselves on just one of the two icy cliffs barely propping the zeppelin up.

Lyner held Aurica's hand and peered over the edge. "Holy crap!" he said, observing the hollow pit beneath them; there was no bottom in sight, just leagues more of icy bluffs.

"Look, Lyner!" Aurica said, pulling him with a felt paw to another angle. She pointed to a few intricate buildings far beneath them, apparently carved out of the solid ice. "Do you think people live in those?"

"I dunno, Aurica, there's no sign of life in them," Lyner said, stroking his facial hair (which he was very thankful for at this particular point in time). "These might be the abandoned villages of the Pulmers before they conquered the Seafoam Lake."

"But that was like a hundred years ago," Aurica countered. "Surely these couldn't have survived that long!"

He shrugged. "Hey, Aurica, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, anything!"

"What's the deal? You've been blowing me off for like a whole month now. Are you into Vincent now?"

"No, no, no, no, no, of course not!" Aurica assured him. "I mean, I used to be, but recently…he's been a lot more cranky and stuff…it's like his true colors are showing, you know what I mean?"

Lyner grunted his assent.

"But, you're not like that!" Aurica grinned warmly, pulling him close. "When the pressure's on is when you really come to life. Like your strategizing today! You were incredible!"

"Ah, no, no, anyone could've…"

"Oh, don't be so modest," Aurica beamed. "So don't worry, you're still my only crush!"

"Great!" Lyner smiled, feeling suddenly much happier than he had at any time recently.

"Speaking of this last month, I think it's time for _you_ to install Diquility in me again!"

"Oh, right!" he said, sombering up again at the thought of Aurica's impending death. "It would be my pleasure."

"Awesome!" Aurica said, setting her pack down and spinning around to don her Standard costume.

"Wow!" Lyner said, staring at her revealing choice of clothes as he squatted down to fetch the Diquility.

Aurica ran a nervous hand through her hair. "Please hurry, I'm so cold!"

"Yeah, I can tell," Lyner chuckled as he held up the crystal in victory. He slid across the icy cliff and held her with one hand on her neck and the other on her warm upper chest. "Wow, it feels so good to hold you like this again!"

Aurica smiled prettily with her false eyes. "I know…but please hurry!"

"Right." Lyner gulped and wriggled the lips on her neck open. As Aurica took a deep breath, Lyner carefully but forcefully slid the crystal into her, causing her to moan in painful pleasure. Aurica reached out by instinct and squeezed Lyner's arm to steady herself as she fell to her knees.

After the ceremony was completed and she had completely absorbed it, she spun around and donned Don Leon immediately once again. "That was great, Lyner!" She said with chattering teeth, jumping forward and making out with him.

Little did they know that a pair of amused eyes was watching them from within the ripped folds of the zeppelin. The owner of the eyes silently cast a spell on the crystals, which turned into a fetid brown color, and then slowly reverted to their original blue-violet color. The disruptor retreated back inside so that their presence wouldn't be discovered.

After several elated moments of tongue-twirling, Lyner pulled away from the heavily-garmented Reyvateil.

"Oh my gosh, I almost forgot!" Aurica said, making Lyner jump. Aurica spun around and donned Seraph.

"Is that warmer than the Don Leon get-up?" Lyner asked skeptically.

"Not normally, no," she murmured and concentrated on the enchanted armor. It responded by glowing with a bright yellow inner light.

"Nice," Lyner said, holding out his hand for her. "C'mon, let's track everybody else down!"

"Right!"

* * *

The pair ducked into the fuselage from which they were thrown and began to slowly make their way across the incredible engineering feat. The pulmers that had been under Wilmpveb's control woke up one by one as they passed, and Lyner explained the situation to them (while Aurica beamed with pride at his sexy 'smart talk')

By the time they marched back to the collapsed palace, they had amassed a huge army of confused Yetis and most of their party. "Okay," Vincent said, looking at the group following them. "We are now on the lower end of the zeppelin, so…might I recommend you all stay up on this half?"

"…But Lyner is…savior…" one ape said in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Boodok, but he's right," Lyner told him. "If you follow us, the zeppelin will plummet again, and I fear we will not be as lucky if it were to happen again!"

"See, I told you!" Aurica whispered to Shurelia as they walked just behind the men. "He can talk like he knows what he's talking about now! Doesn't that just make you purr with pleasure?!?"

Shurelia arched an eyebrow at her. "…You do know you are completely insane don't you?"

Aurica broke out into a fit of giggles. "Oh, I know, I know, but isn't it just fabulous?!"

Shurelia shook her head in disgust. Misha looked over at Aurica, "So Aurica how cold _is _it outside?!?"

"Oh my god, it is SO cold out there!" Aurica cried. "And the ice doesn't even block out any of the coldness!"

"Oh, wow! I guess I'll have to keep wearing this ugly Kasha costume then…"

"No, no, Misha, I think it's got quite a beautiful exotic flair to it!" Shurelia said soothingly.

"Really? Thanks Lady Shurelia!"

"Yeah, look what _I've _got to wear!" Shurelia complained and donned her Linkage costume.

"Well hey, it's not so bad…" Aurica said, leaning in to examine it. "It makes your chest look at least three times larger!"

Shurelia frowned and backhanded her across the face with her steel glove as punishment for impudence.

"So, did something happen between you and the emperor?" Misha asked concernedly.

"…I don't want to talk about it," Shurelia said with a wavering voice. "Not until my physical wounds fully heal can I even begin to attempt to mend the damage he has done to my soul."

Meanwhile, Lyner was parting ways with the Pulmers. He helped Kit down and out of the rubble of the palace. "Thanks," she said with a frown, averting her gaze to avoid his welcoming eyes.

"No problem," he muttered, sensing her ill feelings towards him.

"Kerak!" she exclaimed in delight, running over and hugging the blue-furred Pulmer. "You made it!"

"Of course! There's no way I'd miss the rebuilding of our civilization!"

"I know!" Kit turned and regarded Lyner, placing a hand on her hip. "We have so much to thank you for; this would have never been possible if it were not for your bravery."

Lyner bowed his head to honor the princess. "We are equally indebted, since you helped us save some of our team!"

Kit smiled and turned to the assembled throng of Pulmers behind her. "Pulmers!! The time has come to unite and return to our society the spark of life that it has long forgotten! Let this victory against the evils of my father be a start to a new era of Pulmer glory!"

The army cheered. "I will lead you all, as I have always done, for it is my blood-right," Kit continued. "But tonight let us celebrate our newfound freedom…and save the hard work for the days that follow!" After the crowd cheered again and began to mingle towards the opposite end of the ship, Kit came forward to Lyner. "We shall return to our conquered lands, the Seafoam Lake."

"How are you gonna get up there?" Lyner asked. "The ice cliffs are REALLY tall!"

Kit flashed her claws. "These aren't for nothing." She ran the same claw through her silvery locks. "So…will I ever see you again?"

"Probably, we'll see," Lyner smiled, and waved goodbye to Kerak as he walked towards the ruined palace.

"Bye," Kit said, as she watched her hero and one true love help his party through the rubble to the icy bluffs beyond. Kerak put his hand on her shoulder, knowing her feelings. She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand. "I guess things are gonna go back to normal, huh?"

The tall ape shook his head. "No; we had reached a final height of darkness in our plight, and we will never return to that, now that we are free of it." He walked over to the rest of his army to drink some booze.

"Maybe you won't," Kit whispered to him too soft for him to hear. "But now, all I feel is the bottomless darkness of failure and lost loves." She took her pistol out of its holster again and gave it a long, steady look. Making up her mind, she tossed it away amongst the rubble of her father's palace, where it belonged, and made to follow Kerak. "But I can live with that. I have been all my life, after all," she said to herself, smiling.

* * *

(In the Frozen Bluffs)

Lyner squinted at the overwhelming onslaught of white as he emerged from the dark, warm zeppelin remains. A delicate catwalk of ice extended from the immediate cliff, and he delicately stepped onto it. It led to a large pasture of fluffy snow.

"Damn, how is Bourd going to cross this?" he asked to no one in particular.

"I have an idea," Vincent announced triumphantly. "Mahine, cast Aeros!"

"Right!" Mahine said.

"Everybody, brace yourselves for blindness!" Lyner announced, and sure enough, just as his false eyes flickered out, he took to the skies.

"Yeeka, lead us again!" Radolf commanded the young dragon, which squawked and took off across the frigid skies, sending back dragon calls at it did so.

"Let's go!" Jack shouted, and they took off blindly after the noisy dragon.

After they covered no more than half a mile, Lyner thought he heard faint singing below him. Before he knew it, white-hot, popping electricity burst through him like a scythe and he plummeted to the ground, which thankfully was covered in snow.

He groaned, steaming and struggled to his knees, but a knife suddenly cut across his face, and he screamed as he could feel red-hot blood gushing out over his mouth.

"LYNER!! WHAT'S WRONG!?" Misha screamed, while Shurelia sang a healing spell. Mahine quickly cast Mahonic again for the party's vision.

As his face slowly peeled back together, Lyner ambled woodenly to his feet and looked at the assailant. The man stood just a little taller than Lyner, and had very distinctive black-and green spiky hair. His eyes shone with a dark insanity that pervaded the rest of his features to the point of desecration.

"Hello Mr. Barsett. How good it is to see you again. And now I know what your skull looks like…how very telling," Michaelis sneered, flourishing his flogging whip. A very gorgeous but even colder-looking Blaire stood at his right, wearing hardly any clothes and shivering uncontrollably, but in a fighting stance nonetheless.

"Wait, I know you," Lyner accused him. "Y-you're the captain that took us down to Firefly Alley!"

The scientist nodded. "I cannot tell you how long I have waited for this moment, to finally erase your pitiful existence from the face of Sol Ciel!" He stopped, and raised an eyebrow at the werehorse observing him.

"_Bourd_?!? Are you serious?" He broke out into psychotic laughter, although no one dared rush him. "After you became a monster, you actually became stupid enough to _work_ with your sworn enemy?" His raucous laughter continued as Bourd growled at his son. "Have you no shame?!?"

He laughed so hard that he fell onto the ground with tears in his eyes, pounding the icy snow with his fist repeatedly. "That's just too hilarious!!" he said weakly, and kept laughing, although the laughter gradually changed from a high-pitcher twitter to a deep, otherworldly boom.

Ayatane shrugged. "What's the big deal? I'll kill him myself!" He sprinted across the snow towards his quarry with blades raised.

"NOW!!!" Michaelis suddenly roared. The entire laugh sequence had been a ruse. Mahine blasted a massive red spike out of her throat, which dipped into the ice between the two groups, utterly shattering it and thrusting Ayatane backwards into Lyner in the process.

"Damn, RUN!!!" Luke ordered as he saw the ice shattering its way to them, but it was too late; they dipped down with the rest of the ice.

"You are NOT taking me down without a hit!" Jack screamed, and shot Michaelis through the heart with his arm gun.

Blood exploded out the back of the mad scientist. "Master!!" Blaire cried in horror.

"Never mind me!! Kill them!!! Kill them all!!! Drop hundreds of spikes! THOUSANDS!!"

"Y-yes Master," Blaire complied, and cast for a bit before launching a literal rainstorm of red spikes even bigger than the one she had dropped before down into the pit.

"Alright, good…good…you can heal me now," Michaelis said wearily, his face turning pale grey as he collapsed backwards into his own blood.

"Naturally," was the response, and Blaire immediately reconstructed his heart and restored him to perfect health.

* * *

Freefalling was never exactly Lyner's cup of tea, yet he always seemed to find himself participating in it. He supposed, however, that he still preferred it to being gang-banged by multiple nude girls in broad daylight. He looked around in desperation for a surface to land on, but all that lay beneath them was air and more air.

He wanted to pull the whole Yeeka/Aeros maneuver again, but he didn't really trust that the dragon youth could successfully steer them through a rainstorm of red energy spikes without some casualties being involved.

Even if they did manage to find a place to land, the spikes would certainly shatter it, Lyner observed as he saw the red rain pelt and destroy whatever ice it hit.

"I guess this is the end!" Lyner shouted. "I just want to say, that I have no regrets!"

"Me neither!" Radolf agreed.

"Yep, this is exactly how I'd want to snuff out," Jack said sarcastically.

"Wait, look at that orange wall!" Aurica cried, pointing at an off-color bluff of ice as the party picked up acceleration in its descent. "That's kind of… weird!"

"Maybe there's something behind it!" Ayatane suggested over the clamor of bursting ice.

"Yeah, let's wait and see," Shurelia said. She used her small ability to hover in Linkage to raise herself to Lyner's level.

"Hello!" he said amicably. "I love you."

"I love you too, so much!" Shurelia said. "Thank you for showing me what life's all about! I don't we failed our mission, do you?"

"Nah, they can't say we didn't get _some_ stuff done!" Lyner agreed with a smile.

"Oh my god! The wall!" Radolf yelled, pointing at the conspicuously orange wall. The acid rain had blasted away most of it, and beyond it lay…a glimmering neon orange space station with a grinning skull in its middle.

"Oh hey, look who it is!" Lyner said pleasantly. "You said you wanted to meet us?"

The skull laughed in a high-pitched voice as its otherworldly craft took flight, blasting an inferno of fire under itself as it did so. The sun-like heat of the dancing flames immediately melted the ice, which morphed into a rushing blast of water and blasted into the heroes like a titan's punch.

Lyner momentarily blacked out as he and the party were sent spiraling backwards in the boiling water, but when he came to, he found himself refrozen to one of the walls of the great, icy abyss.

He couldn't look around to see the others, but he assumed the same thing happened to them as well. What he could see, however, was the horrific picture of the Quiad Reyvateil in all her demonic glory floating right in front of them. Upon closer inspection, Lyner discovered that she was not entirely orange, just mostly orange. The many windows and indentations in her hulk contained a multitude of colors the deeper he peered, much like a peacock's feather.

"You have very pretty colors," Lyner said politely.

* * *

A/N: Hello; this chapter was obviously a bit more lighthearted than some...at least, I found it to be. Any feedback would definitely be listened to, and I love all my readers! So, please review! 


	13. Betrayals and Cannibalism

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 29 – Betrayals and Cannabalism

(Deep in the Frozen Bluffs)

The burning orange skull opened its jaws so wide that they cracked, and a long neon tongue stretched out at Lyner, stopping only a foot in front of him. Lyner stared at it, mesmerized; the colors swimming beneath the surface constantly sparkled, shimmered, and swirled about.

An orange lady emerged from within the cavernous mouth of the skull and walked along the tongue as if it were a bridge. Every step perfectly reflected her inhuman sexuality, as all of her parts jiggled and curved with a dancer's seductive gait. Epimetheus walked along until she reached Lyner's frozen capsule of ice he found himself in.

Despite himself, Lyner found himself staring at her gorgeous body with an astral yearning; normally he was averse to nudity, but this was just perfection in the flesh.

"Thank you," she said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Well, it's true. You have a nice er…castle here, or whatever this is."

"Oh, it's called a husk, but I was really thanking you for freeing me from my hundred-year prison."

"And that's why you wanted me to come?" Lyner guessed.

"Yes, part of it," Epimetheus said, kneeling down in front of him so that the full radiance of her beauty shone on him in a purely intimate setting. Lyner began to sweat profusely despite the cold. She licked her lips at him and said, "I'm plotting a world takeover, and I need your help, Lyner Barsett. My sisters Iapetus and Tethys already have large numbers under their command, with which they intend to take over the world. Instead of a world of darkness or a world of control, I would create a flawless, beautiful demon world! But as of right now I have no followers. And I want you to be the first!" She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, and then licked him up and down his face. Lyner felt his heart rate increasing at a staggering rate as he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that one of the most powerful beings in existence apparently found him attractive...and he was covered in her saliva.

She pulled back a little so she could look him in the eyes with her blood red ones. "I've been watching everything you've done in Ign Saradorn so far, and I must say I'm impressed with your power; it's far greater than that of any humans I've witnessed before!"

"Th-thank you!" Lyner said with a blush. So it was his power she wanted, eh? "So…what would this demon world look like then?"

"Well," Epimetheus said, tossing her blonde hair as she prepared to detail her pipe dream. "It would be a world of fire, where everything was composed of gold and treasures beyond your wildest dreams! Everyone could bite through each others' skulls with no effort and eat each others' brains! Oh, and everyone would have an insatiable urge to betray everyone they count as a friend! It would just be constant fun, and the strong and wealthy would get to LORD it over everyone and laugh as they flog each others' faces off!" She grinned in earnest. "Come on! With my power, we can make my utopia! Don't you want that?"

Lyner pursed his lips. "Yeah, sounds great. So, why don't you let me down and I'll help you achieve this dream world of yours!"

"Not so fast, Mr. Barsett," Epimetheus grinned. "I am going to give you two choices here: one, you allow me to embody you immediately and then let you down to do my bidding, or two, I sing a song that instantly detonates you and all of your friends from the inside out. What will it be?"

The Knight of Elemia stared into her pretty red eyes. He had to kill her if he could, so giving himself and his party up was completely against the question. If pledging allegiance to her was the only way to move in that direction, so be it.

He took a steadying breath and said, "I'll be your man, Epimetheus, just let me and my friends down."

"Good, good! And someday I hope to be much more than just your master!" Epimetheus said with a sweet smile, running her long nails down his cheek.

"LYNER, DON'T!!!" Shurelia screamed from to his left.

"I have to," Lyner yelled back. "It's the only way!"

"Just let us get blown up instead!" Radolf yelled.

"I…have no choice…I'm sorry, everyone," Lyner groaned. He continued to look at Lady Epimetheus with a certain fascination. "So…what do we do now?"

"Just sit still," Epimetheus cooed, and screamed like a psychopath. Lyner's eyes widened as her face contorted and twisted until she looked like a very, very old eye-less demon with a high-pitched girly laugh. She made a cacophony of evil noise, that burst into his soul, making him flinch from the heat. Lyner grit his teeth from the pressure of power flying into his body. The ice encasing him melted fully, and but he remained pinned against the wall. The rest of the party fell down to a snowy bluff beneath them.

Lyner cried out from the pain as Epimetheus laughed evilly, growing more disfigured by the second, and bared her misshapen teeth. She then jumped from the skull's tongue and sank her teeth through his chest into his heart. Lyner screamed from the ripping sensation.

The Quiad Reyvateil bit down, bursting his heart. "I now mark you forever in the name of Epimetheus, the Reyvateil of Demonizing. You will never die, and you will be her servant forevermore. Do you understand?"

"NO!!" Lyner roared, trying to fight it, even as she formed a new, orange heart inside his chest. "I will never join you! You're sick!" He coughed up some blood.

"You fool! It is futile to struggle! This is the beginning of the end of the world as we now know it," the witch guffawed. "The birth of the new Lyner Barsett is now complete! You shall now be known as Neolyner, for you are…EEK!" she cried in pain as Mahine launched Black Vivisection on her and Jack fired a round into her netherparts.

Red blood splattered out of the exceedingly ugly monster, and she barely managed to hover to safety on her tongue. "Neolyner! Kill all your former friends! Eat out their organs! Protect me, my servant!" she hissed as the tongue retracted, taking her back into the orange skull.

"Yes, Master," Lyner grunted, enraged that these people who called themselves his friends would dare to harm the most perfect Lady Epimetheus. His false eyes disappeared, and new, brilliant orange organic ones took their place. Lyner burst out of the ice just by flexing, and dived down to the ground below, just a bit above his party. "What you have done is sick, and so your carcasses must be strewn across the ground like the sick monsters you are," Lyner told them in an uncharacteristically deep voice. He smiled as he pictured all of them stripped of their skin, a severed blob of red death!

"Uh-oh!" Aurica said with widened eyes. "Is he really…gone?"

"I don't think he's pretending," Misha said with a frog in her throat as she saw her crush coming towards them with unnatural eyes set in the scarred flesh around his face. There was the mark of something obscene in his expression.

"Fight it, Lyner!" Jack yelled. "I know you, you have one of the fattest spirits ever! You can find yourself!"

"It is hopeless," the skull said, hovering down next to them. "You will all die here and now for your treachery, you can be sure of that!"

"Should we fight him?" Ayatane asked the others. "I mean…he's my best friend!"

"This will be beautiful!" Lyner seethed. "May your deaths serve as a lesson to all those who come after; NO ONE touches Lady Epimetheus!"

"WHO could possibly learn from this, Lyner?" Luke asked from the back of the group. "There's no one around for miles and miles!"

Vincent leaned in to Bourd and muttered, "This may turn out to be the chance you were looking for."

"Screw this! I'll take him!" Tulip announced, singing a hasty spell.

"NOT yet!" Vincent hissed. "We still don't know what-"

Unbidden, Bourd reared up on his hind legs and burst off towards their possessed commander.

"…he's capable of," Vincent muttered. He unsheathed his double-bladed sword from his back-strap, but hesitated before going on the attack.

Bourd exploded like a rocket across the snow as he barreled towards Lyner, but his target was far too quick. Lyner crouched, and then launched through the frigid air, spinning around like a slicing corkscrew.

"HOLY ----!" Jack gaped. Before Bourd could react, Lyner had slashed his face to ribbons and detatched both of his front two legs.

"Okay, he definitely couldn't do THAT before!" Misha said, frozen to the spot.

Tulip finalized her spell and launched it, immediately afterwards starting on a healing spell for her Master.

A hulking pink air behemoth had materialized, with a ghastly skull-like face. Lyner looked at it blankly, and raised his sword to combat it.

"Don't bother yourself, my servant. I will handle this," Epimetheus said matter-of-factly, and the space station launched a barrage of window blocks into Tulip's spell before it could reach Lyner.

"Wow, so should we attack Lyner or Epimetheus?" Aurica asked Jack, whose eyes were wide.

"I-I dunno. This is really stupid. Without our fearless leader, there's no way we can stop this thing!"

"That's it! I'm outta here!" Luke announced to everyone, and took off running down the hill. Epimetheus's eyes flashed and an inferno of raging flames appeared directly in front of him, and he skidded to a stop just in time.

"There is no escape! There is only DEATH!" the demonic Reyvateil laughed.

* * *

(Less than a mile below, at the divine Bruha Monastery)

Father Cupley looked around the chapel with pride; it was filled with signs of a hard day's work, having been set up with tables, chairs, and lavish decorations for the festival tonight.

He sighed with joy. The Testicle Festival was the single day that all monks in his monastery looked forward to in each year, giving them a singular moment of worldly celebration before they returned to their divine work and holy studies.

As the aroma of stir-fried testicles arose to his nose, Cupley looked out the window out of habit. It was the Bruha Monastery's divine mission to guard the icy bluffs and the civilations below from the evil Reyvateil Epimetheus, if she were ever to emerge. He didn't really believe in the literal existence of the demon lord, especially in this very place; many locations around Ign Saradorn were known 'hotspots' of divine encounters, and most of the lot were all hooey.

However, this time when Cupley peered up the side of the bluff, he saw the dancing wisps of light upon the holy Bridge of Anturik. This specific kind of light, he knew, was an extremely unholy variety, and must be removed from the holy ground before his fate would be sealed in Hell forever. Whether a true demon was awake tonight or if it was just some teenage Pulmers pulling a prank, he knew not, but he had to act now, for the sake of his and his entire monastery's places in heaven.

As he ran, blustering, down from his brass podium, a lesser monk named Badby pushed in a massive wok filled with steaming testicles.

"Badby, my brother!" Cupley yelled. "There are demon flames upon the mountain! We must go erase them before the Bridge of Anturik melts!"

"B-but Father Cupley!" Badby said. "The festival starts in less than an hour. Surely that is more important!"

"Nonsense! Our eternal salvation is at stake! We most go smother it with our grace and goodwill…eh?" Cupley stopped, for Badby had stabbed one of the fried testicles with a fork and held it up for the elder to try.

"Here sir, it's your favorite!" Badby said, grinning goofily.

Cupley took one look at the testicle and greedily bit down on it, the nut juice spewing out with a large splash (some of it landed in Badby's eye). Cupley moaned in the pleasure his tastebuds took in, and nodded his vigorous approval to the chef. "Oh…thank god this is only once a year, Brother Badby. Else, this entire monastery would be a bunch of fat men!"

They both broke out in hearty laughter. Cupley swallowed his hastily-chewed reproductive gland and said, "Come! We must save the bridge! Go, gather all your brothers!"

Badby rolled his eyes and sighed. "Why does it have to be the day _of_ the festival!? I was so looking forward to serving all my brothers this bountiful food!"

"I know, brother, I know. Clearly this is just the good goddess's ways of testing us!"

As they were about to set out, Cupley declared, "Just one more!" and swiveled around to slam another testicle down the hatch.

* * *

(Back up on the Bridge of Anturik)

The heroes were forced to come up with a strategy. Radolf, Vincent, and Ayatane were to work together to hold off their crazed leader, while Jack and the girls helped raise each others' harmonics in order to do battle with the wounded Quiad Reyvateil hovering next to them. Luke found it best to hang out with the girls too, since Aurica had raised a strong Fire Shield there.

"Keep changing up your spells!" Jack yelled to the Reyvateils as he kept up a steady barrage of bullets into the roaring skull center. "Even if we don't know its weakness, there's still got to be a way to kill it! Except for you, Aurica. You keep on casting Fire Guard."

"On top of it!" Aurica grinned, feeding all of her power into her Blue Magic in order to absorb Epimetheus's flaming attacks. The titan was slowly tiring, but none of her resolve had diminished.

"Fools, it is hopeless! There is no way to penetrate my mighty husk!" Epimetheus roared as she slashed across Jack's squad with a hundred-meter long sword of solid Hellfire, but to no avail due to Aurica's shield.

"It's working!" Jack said in glee. "I can't believe it!"

"Neolyner, what's taking so long!?" The skull roared, its eyes flashing a menacing red.

Lyner was too busy to answer his Master, for he was holding off three swordsmen at once. "F---, Radolf, I can't wait to see what the inside of your face looks like!" Lyner howled giddily, charging the archbishop with a flashy combo that miraculously managed to knock both Ayatane and Vincent's swords away as he executed it. Radolf contorted his face with concentration as he deftly blocked all of his friend's attacks; he was fortunate to have sparred with Lyner for practice on many an occasion before this. Neolyner used many attack sequences the real Lyner used, but often with more flash and power.

Vincent picked his long sword up and stabbed it towards his father, but Lyner reached down with his left hand, caught the sword by the blade, and stabbed his son through with the other end of it. All the while, he kept up his duel with Radolf with his right hand.

"EH? You like that? EH? You're next, little s---!" Lyner said, lusting after the blood dribbling sensually from the impact in Vincent's gut. He clenched his left hand, which was currently dripping with blood as well, and that gave him an idea.

"Hey Radolf!" he said, lowering his sword all of a sudden.

"…Lyner? Are you back?" the archbishop said in relief.

He shrugged. "You don't like blood, right?"

"Uh, no, I actually find it rather unpleasant…" Radolf said, preparing to raise his spear.

"Well, how do you like this?!?" Lyner screamed like a wildcat, bashing Radolf's spear to the snow, eliciting a spray of sparks in the process, and slapped his slashed hand on Radolf's face, squeezing hard. "EH!? EH!? EH!?" Lyner screeched as his blood poured down Radolf's face. To his disappointment, the archbishop remained stock still, spear held at the ready. "You're no fun, you pathetic queer!"

Ayatane had sneaked behind him, meanwhile, but Lyner sensed this and began to slash wildly in his direction with his right hand, his left still firmly groping Radolf's face. Ayatane took up the parrying game again, and watched Yeeka sneak up from its place of hiding on Radolf's back to bite (hard) into Lyner's left hand.

Lyner roared, more out of being insulted than out of pain. He frustratedly slashed Ayatane backwards with a forceful blow, and whirled the sword around in a beautiful arc through the air, cutting Yeeka perfectly in half.

"Haha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! I killed Yeeka!" Lyner cracked up, his skin ripping from smiling with his face so tightly.

"What??" Shurelia asked, her heart skipping a beat. "No!! My little darling!!"

"Keep singing, dammit! It's our only hope!" Jack snapped.

"It's not working! What are we going to do?" Misha asked him.

"Just…keep singing water and ice spells, Misha. There's gotta be some way to snuff its flame out so she goes crashing into the cliff side!"

Ayatane took advantage of the pause and ran up, running his katana through the back of Lyner's chest just as the madman was about to slash Radolf across the face. Lyner collapsed into the fluffy snow, his blood streaming out through the katana wound. His twisted smile remained, however.

"WHAT?!? Impossible!" Epimetheus roared. "How could he lose? He had become a flawless warrior!"

"Unfortunately, when you selected your servant, you forgot that there were other capable soldiers around as well," Ayatane smirked.

"A mistake I won't make again. Very well, you have all proven yourselves worthy of becoming my servants! Prepare to embark on a mission to create the ULTIMATE world!!" the skull announced, firing its giant orange windows out at Jack's group.

"Watch out! Break outta song, everybody!" Jack said, grabbing Misha's hand and leading them as close to the cliff wall as possible. "Stay here," he told them. "The slant of the cliff here should keep us safe from those windows!"

"Wow, Jack, you've gotten almost as good as Lyner at issuing orders!" Misha said, squeezing his hand and giving him an appraising look.

"Well, I'm used to saying my orders over and over again, what with living with Krusche forever," Jack said with a shrug. Misha's mouth clamped shut at this, and she took her hand out of his, wiping it on her arm as she did.

True to his word, the window blocks smashed down directly in front of them, barely giving them any room at all to stand. "So far, so good!" Jack said, despite the fact that Bourd's corpse was crushed.

"A-are Lyner and the others alright?" Shurelia asked with tear-stained eyes. Jack looked down to their right and saw that Vincent or someone had suggested the same strategy, and they had taken Lyner's unconscious body with them.

After a very pissed-looking Epimetheus scooped the windows back into herself, the skull mouth opened and the Reyvateil herself peered out and began to do her freak-out dance again. The entire sky darkened, and orange beams of light fired into all ten heroes.

"Uh-oh, I feel something within me…" Aurica murmured. She looked at Luke curiously. "…I really want to cut off your head and shove it up your anus…do you feel that about me too?"

"No…" Luke said cutely. "But I was actually just wondering how good the meat on your neck tastes."

"OK, see now that's messed up!" Aurica huffed. "…I do NOT have a meaty neck!"

"E-excuse me? Is someone there?!" A voice suddenly issued from beyond the nearby inferno.

"Did you hear something?" Luke asked her.

"Yeah, I did! We're here, mister! Who are you?" Aurica called. A bunch of figures appeared beyond the flames.

"We're here to save you and defeat this monstrosity!" the person said. He put his hand into the fire and blue mist shimmered out of it, but it didn't appear to affect the binding flames any.

Shurelia looked up at Epimetheus, who had now issued ten burning skull spirits to fly towards them, likely to eat their hearts out like what happened to Lyner. "Let's hurry! There's not much time!" She could feel her heart pulling towards her skull, like it actually wanted to be consumed. She also had the overwhelming urge to run over to Lyner and carve five concentric slashed across his flawless body, eliciting a gorgeous design of bubbling blood, but decided that would be too much trouble.

"Take my hand!" the person from beyond the flames said, stepping fully into the fire, and incredibly remaining unharmed.

Luke looked at Aurica for the OK and said, "Alright," running and grabbing the extended hand. The monk quickly pulled him through, and Luke didn't feel an ounce of heat the entire time. When he arrived at the other side, he realized that their saviors were a group of monks.

"Oh wow! We are most indebted to you, good monks!" Luke offered his thanks, when Aurica plopped into his backside.

"Luke! Do you mind?" she said jokingly. "Out of the way, everyone else has to come through too!" So the two stepped aside as one by one, the other heroes were escorted through Epimetheus's inferno.

"NO!! You cannot escape!!" Epimetheus screamed in rage, egging her skulls on through the air all the faster.

Father Cupley emerged from the flames, carrying Lyner's deathly pale body through last. "The curse of death is after us! We must hurry back to the monastery! Lead the way, brothers!"

The heroes were glad to follow orders again for a change, and slid down the stark white snowy hill with the monks, the flaming skulls zooming after their hearts.

Fortunately, the way down to Bruha Monastery required little walking and much sliding on the buttocks, so the heroes were able to stay a lick in front of the skulls.

Misha found herself scooting down alongside Father Cupley. "So…how come you could walk through the fire?" she asked in confusion.

"Grace, my daughter," Cupley said. "You see, we monks constantly show each other grace. That is, putting the Goddesses and others before ourselves; such selflessness is the opposite of the narcissism of Epimetheus's teachings."

"So…Grace is Epimetheus's weakness?" Misha said.

"Precisely. Now, I have ordered the entire collective of brothers to meditate on selflessness in a circle outside the monastic grounds. This will give us a protective shield, one which neither the skulls nor Epimetheus herself can enter."

"Oh, awesome!" Misha said. She stuck her hand out to him. "Misha."

"Father Cupley, at your service," the monk replied, shaking her hand.

After a few minutes of sliding downwards, the heroes finally arrived at the Bruha Monastery, sliding past the barrier of protective monks. Sure enough, when the hungry skulls attempted to follow them in, they dissolved into pixy dust as soon as they crossed the circle.

"Go inside and make yourselves at home," Cupley said to the heroes. "It is our duty to attend to the destruction of Epimetheus."

"No! I'm sorry Father, but it is our duty as well!" Shurelia said. "We were given a mission to exterminate all the Quiad Reyvateils, and we don't intend to back down from it!"

"Very well then, you may assist us," Cupley said, leading the way over to the monks overlooking the abyss.

"Miss?" a large monk that had been delegated the task of carrying Lyner. "Would it be alright if I took this one to the medical wing?"

"Y-yes," Shurelia answered. "Be careful though. He was the only one of us that had been successfully possessed by Epimetheus."

"Understood, we'll bring him home," the heavily-muscled monk said.

"Wait, um…" Shurelia said as the other heroes set off to pursue Father Cupley. "Wh-what's your name?"

"Brother Encid. And you?"

"Lady Shurelia," She blushed. Even through his loose-fitting robes, she could tell that the man was a total hunk. "Wh-what are you doing later tonight?" she asked, eager for some good sex after what happened between her and Wilmpveb.

Encid raised and lowered his eyebrows in excitement. "Chomping on other men's testicles, of course!"

Shurelia's jaw dropped in shock. "Okay…y-you have fun with that!" Extremely weirded out, she spun and walked over to see what her friends were up to.

Epimetheus had lowered herself to the brink of the abyss, but dared not come any closer. "SO…this puny monastery has awaited my return all these years? I'm honored, but that won't stop me from burning you all to the ground!!" She opened her skull hatch, and a massive gale of crisp yellow flames blasted into the village, but the monks' barrier formed a protective bubble shield around the encampment, which absorbed the flames just as soon as they collided with it.

"WHAAT??" Epimetheus roared.

"You see, you still lack the power to overcome that which is good and selfless!" Father Cupley said calmly.

"Shut up, I don't need a sermon from you!" Epimetheus snickered. "There's more than one way to kill a village!" She sang a song, and the entire ground started to rumble.

"What's going on? An earthquake?" Ayatane asked.

"No; she is planning on melting the ice beneath us, to cause our Monastery to fall into the deep!" Cupley said, peering over the edge. Jack peered over as well. An enormous influx of lava had appeared from the deep, and was speedily rising towards the village.

"No! How are we going to stop it?!" Vincent asked.

"General Hurck? Any ideas?" Cupley calmly asked the second-in-command.

"Just one, sir; we have to somehow gather up our Grace we've materialized around the village and use it as a projectile." Hurck looked at the girls. "Do any of you have spell that can form a tornado or something of that sort?"

"I do!" Aurica said, and proudly cast Wind Guard, which stirred up a massive, whirling tornado at the very edge of the protective bubble.

"Now, we need some way to send it over…"

"Got it," Mahine said, casting Black Vivisection. The leopard flew up and soared through the sky, pulling a great swath of swirling Grace with it. Epimetheus raised a great, circular shield of solid flame, but the combined spells passed through it with ease. The leopard cut through Epimetheus's skull and burst out the other end, pulling the influx of grace with it. The skull glowed brighter than the sun and exploded open, revealing a shocked-looking Epimetheus within.

"My turn!" Misha declared, and cast her fourth Tear God that day, spewing gaseous ice all over her. Epimetheus, now exposed and aching with the pains of too much grace, fell prey to the spell, which froze her all the way through.

Hurck nodded at Jack, and the gunman aimed a sniper shot directly at her cranium and fired, exploding her head into a thousand scattered icicles. The lava below stopped rising, and the entire grounds broke out into blissful celebration.

As everyone hugged each other and people began to laugh uncontrollably out of relief, Shurelia smiled and snuck away to wait by Lyner's bedside.

* * *

A/N: Hope you're enjoying this…but I can't really tell, since no one ever reviews! No rush though, take your time!

Tune in next time to see the emotionally-taut aftermath of the battle, after which the heroes will embark on the final leg of their mission, that of destroying the almighty Tethys, Reyvateil of Order.


	14. The Somnambulist

A/N: You're all awesome, and I'm glad people do read this, even if they don't review.

_**Ar Tonelico: Rite of Slumber, Pt. 2**_

Ign Saradorn

Chapter 30- The Somnambulist

(At Night in Bruha Monastery)

After Father Cupley took the heroes into the specially-prepared chapel room with the entire cloister of monks gathered there already, he strode up to his brass podium and beamed at his audience.

"Tonight is a glorious night indeed, my brothers and sisters in the Trio of Elemia! For it is not just our yearly Testicle Festival; it is also the very moment we have been freed from our duty!" Glowing with thanks at the party, Cupley continued, "What a truly opportune and blessed time we find ourselves in! Today marks the arrival of a new era of life for us; our chains of binding have finally been lifted, so we can new freely study the texts of Elemia without any interruption!"

"_Another_ new era speech?" Misha asked Jack in a whisper, nudging him in the ribs.

He grinned. "Well, what can I say? I just inspire people to want make a radical change that lasts a thousand years every time I walk in a room!"

"Oh really, Harm? That's a little egotistical, isn't it?"

"You know what? I'm trying to listen very hard to this really meaningful speech, and you're just distracting me," Jack said, winking at her. "I think I'd better go stand by someone else!" He bit his tongue and folded his arms in a pout.

"Sorry," she whispered. As the Father continued to give his enthusiastic speech, Misha noticed the massive vats of steaming testicles before them. "Wow…you gonna chow down on some man testicles?"

"Well see, that's where a lot of people make the common misconception of assuming that all testicles come from males," Jack said, keeping a straight face.

"Oh, so you're suggesting a couple of women monks donated their nads to this holy procession?" Misha giggled.

"Exactly. I mean, no one ever said these were man nuts, so assuming they are as much is just plain mother----ing sexist, don't you think!" Jack muttered with a smile.

"Ex_cuse_ me, do you _mind_?!?" Father Cupley said, taking off his glasses and glaring at the rude heroes.

"Seriously, you guys! Stop hitting on each other in a monastery!" A monk said from next to Jack.

"See Misha? Look what you did!" Jack said with a full chuckle. But he turned and saw that her smile had disappeared, and she was blushing terribly. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She slapped his arm away and glared at him. "I'm going to go see Lyner!" she said in an undertone.

"S-sorry, I was only trying to-" but Misha grabbed her coat and stalked out of the room before he could finish. All eyes were on Jack now, who put his hands in his pockets and smiled winningly up at Cupley. "Do carry on, Father!"

Father Cupley cleared his throat and continued. "As I was saying, this is a happy occasion…"

Jack stopped listening and lowered his head with glazed eyes. He felt betrayed for some reason, although he didn't know why. Was it something he did? And why did he feel so empty now that Misha wasn't standing next to him? Jack gulped, a sickly feeling growing in his throat; did he have a thing for his own foster sister?

Cupley apparently ended his speech with gusto, and the room broke out into cheers and crazy, old-fashioned dance moves. Jack wandered over to the vats, to which he was very near already, and mindlessly picked out a random nut to eat. He plopped it into his mouth and was surprised at the pleasant flavor; it certainly tasted a lot better cooked than not.

"What does it taste like?" Aurica said sweetly, coming up next to him. "Oh wait! I think you're supposed to rip the veins off first!" she said, observing the red cords hanging out of his mouth.

"Oh, right," Jack said, taking out the half-chewed nut and popped the veins out. "It kinda…tastes like vanilla tea mixed with egg yolks, if you want to know the honest truth."

"Really?!" Aurica said. "Sooooo…"

"Yes, Trinity Divinator, what can I do to you today?" Jack said. "Nice choice of clothes by the way, it looks simply stunning on you."

"Thanks!!" Aurica said, who had put her Standard costume back on. "I'm wearing it for Lyner's pleasure once he wakes up. But what I was going to say was, what was that back there, between you and Misha?"

He shrugged. "It was nothing. We're just good friends, that's all."

"Oh, it looked like a lot more than good friends to me!" Aurica said slyly. "More like, flirting bordering on the foreplay side!"

"WHAAT?!" Jack said, feeling vomit climb up the back of his throat at the thought. "Look, _now_ I have to go eat more testicles to keep from throwing up!" He pushed his way through the throng of monks, and snatched up another nut from the varied selection. "Hmm, Buffalo Balls!" he said, observing that it had been fried and coated with red-hot buffalo sauce.

"Riiiight, just know I'm on to you!" Aurica smirked.

"There's…_nothing_ to be on!" Jack said, spreading his arms to illuminate the vast amount of nothingness that he was talking about.

"Yup, that's what_ she_ said! Laters, I'm gonna go greet Lyner once he's awake, bye!!" she gushed, and skipped away.

Jack shook his head. "Stupid kid." He walked out into the dance floor and began to an assortment of crazy dance moves, before he noticed that he was surrounded by a whole bunch of balding middle-aged men in robes. "'Kay…" he said awkwardly, and noticed the team's resident redhead dancing a few steps away.

He walked up to her. "Some party this is, eh? There's _no_ girls!"

Tulip stopped dancing immediately. "Uh, _WHAT_ was that?"

Jack cleared his throat. "I was just saying, you know, how old is this place? It's gotta be at least…"

"If there's no girls, then what am I?!" the fiery red-head asked him fiercely.

Jack gulped. "N-n-no, you're a girl alright? No! Even more than that! You're a woman, and what a woman you are! You're like the most beautiful damn woman I've ever laid eyes on! All my life I've been looking for a girl just like you, you're just what any man could ever want in a…HEY!! I JUST MEANT IT WAS A SAUSAGEFEST, ALRIGHT?!" he yelled after her as she walked away in disgust. "DAMMIT!!"

"Sorry man, but I'm pretty sure you're just digging yourself into a deeper hole," Radolf said as he danced past.

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" Jack spat, his arms folded. "…Now all the single girls are taken…"

"Hey, isn't this party so awesome?!" a monk said, coming up and dancing next to Jack. The gunman regarded him coldly. "There's five entire women here!! Normally we have to grind on each other's legs, and that's just a little awkward."

"Yeah…I bet it kinda is," Jack said. "Well good luck with these ones, they're not exactly what you'd call desperate!"

"Well, that one with the grey-blue hair, you know her?"

"Shurelia? The one with no chest?" Jack said. "Yeah, she's alright."

"My bro Encid said she asked him on a date! So clearly they must be in the market at least a little, eh?"

"_Really_?" Jack asked incredulously. "Now that's very interesting!" He noogied the man on his bald head. "Thanks for the tip! Guess I won't kill you now after all."

"Oh, happy to help! W-would it be alright if I peed on your leg?"

"In your dreams, pal."

"O-oh, alright…well I'll be over by the testicle pit if you change your mind."

"Yeah, I'll be right over!" Jack said, rolling his eyes. "This is the worst party ever…I gotta get me a chick, fast!"

* * *

(In the Cleansing Wing) 

Shurelia, Aurica, and Misha all waited eagerly for Lyner to stir in a separate part of the monastery. Flora and gardens blossomed lively throughout the building, lending Lyner their healing power. The brother who healed Lyner just left, saying he poured as much Grace into Lyner's body as it could handle.

Now, all they could do was wait. Shurelia looked at the other two with red-rimmed eyes. "What are you both doing here? I'm his girlfriend."

Aurica shrugged. "Well…Lyner and I had a kind of…moment after the zeppelin crashed, and…I was just wondering if we would continue down that path or anything like that."

"I see," Shurelia glared. "I'll have to have a talk with him about it when he wakes up." She turned her accusing gaze to Misha. "Are you trying to steal him too?"

Misha shook her raven-colored hair. "Honestly, I'm just here to get away from Harm; he was being a little too forward with me back in the chapel." She winked at Aurica with her left eye so Shurelia wouldn't see.

"Oh yeah?" Shurelia asked with a grin, dropping into a gossiping stance. "So would you ever do him?"

Misha snorted "Are you serious? I'd rather do…_any_one!! At least someone who would take it seriously. The word 'commitment' doesn't appear in Harm's dictionary!"

Shurelia laughed. "But just think…blue hair means a blue bush…"

"WHAAT?!?" Aurica and Misha burst out. "I-I don't even _want_ to think about that _ever_!" Misha added, her jaw dropped at Shurelia.

"Well…you gotta admit it would outline it more…"

"P-please stop, girls," Lyner said weakly, his new orange eyes opening to slits. "You're killing me here…"

"LYNER!!!" All three girls screamed in delight, jumping on him. Shurelia made out savagely with him (although he was a bit of a limp fish at the moment), Misha kissed and bit his sturdy neck, and Aurica kissed him all over his rock-hard chest.

After a long kiss from paradise with his girlfriend, Lyner laughed softly. "Wow…I should defintitely sell my soul to the devil more often!" Seeing their nervous smiles, he said, "Kidding, kidding! Trust me, I'm so sorry all that happened!" He groaned and let his head fall back on the cot pillow.

"It's okay!" Misha said bolsteringly.

"So how much of it do you remember?" Aurica asked.

"Just…bits and pieces," Lyner groaned. "Listen, I didn't kill anyone, did I?"

"Well…" Shurelia said with a shaky voice. "Yes…"

Lyner sat up straight in bed, wide-eyed. "NO!! Who?! Why?!"

"Um…Bourd and Yeeka," she said with her head hung low.

"YES!!!! Getting demon possessed is totally awesome!" Lyner shouted, punching the air in victory. He looked down to see Shurelia staring at him, shocked. "…What?"

"Are you serious??" Shurelia said, blinking a lot. She stared at him as if she was seeing him for the first time.

"Uh, yep! The world is a better place without both of them!" Lyner said, lying back down on his cot in satisfaction.

"YOU MONSTER!!!" Shurelia shrieked, causing Lyner to jerk awake again. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO APOLOGIZE!??!"

Lyner stared at her blankly. "Why would I apologize for something that I'm not sorry for? Bourd was a mass murderer, and Yeeka was just your annoying little sex toy!"

Tears streamed down the Tower Administrator's face. "You know I loved Yeeka!"

"Yeah, so? I hate him, always have."

"But enough to kill him?"

Lyner shrugged. "Sure. I would've probably done it sooner or later. But now I have an excuse, so that's nice."

Shurelia blinked a lot again to clear her head. "Girls, could Lyner and I have a moment alone for just a second?"

"Sure," Misha said at an appropriately hushed volume, but then winked at Lyner sensually, while Aurica gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up sign, mouthing, "Keep going with it!" The two walked out of the room, and Shurelia sat down on the cot with her boyfriend.

"Lyner…you know Wilmpveb r-raped me, right?" she asked him.

Lyner nodded sympathetically. He reached out to hold her, saying, "Everything will be alright."

"Don't touch me!" Shurelia glared at him with wild eyes. "You don't know how much I wanted to share my virginity with you, Lyner Barsett!" she spat his name out, getting up and pacing around the peaceful setting. "But now, after this…I'm glad I didn't," she said, turning away at the last bit.

"…Shurelia?" he squeaked. "B-b-but I-I…"

"_Love_ me?" she laughed. "I doubt it. If you really had loved me, you would have married me somewhere along the line during the fifteen years we lived together! But I can see it now; you're just like Jack, you're afraid to be held down by just one girl!!"

"NO! I-" Lyner began to get up, but his stomach buckled and he was forced to fall back on his bed. "That's not it at all! I _want_ to be held down by just one girl, but I just can't…"

"Can't what? Make a simple thing like a decision?"

"I-I just want it to feel right, you know? Like I really belong with the person."

"Well…" Shurelia breathed. "You now have one less slut to choose from!" With that, she spun around and walked outside his room, slamming the door behind her.

"SHURELIA!!!" Lyner roared after her. "NO! FINE, I APOLOGIZE!!! DAMMIT!!!" He looked around wildly and saw a few valuable pieces of décor on the nightstand next to him, so he smashed them all with his fist. "NO!!!!!!!" He flopped back down on the hard cot. Now was when he would normally run around an obstacle course and exert himself physically, but his body wouldn't even let him stand. He screamed in defiance until exhaustion claimed him and he fell back asleep.

* * *

(In the middle of the night) 

Father Cupley insisted the party stay for the night, so Shurelia found herself sharing a bed with Aurica in one of the guest rooms. Shurelia couldn't stand being in bed with the girl though, since she still was very clearly in love with that moral-less, guile-less bonehead. _What _had possessed her to stay with him for so long?

Shurelia watched the gorgeous Reyvateil fall asleep, waited ten minutes, and then sneaked out to wander the gardens of the celestial Cleansing Wing. Before long she found a lovely garden of rhododendrons mixed with various types of water lilies, overlooking a scenic route down from the Icy Bluffs. In a bleak but curiously beautiful landscape, she could see the icy rivers stretch into the horizon, twisting like a dancing magneboard artist. It eventually turned into a vast steel realm, dotted with several small houses along the way.

She sighed and leaned against a giant red plant. Staring at this fantastic expanse like this somehow felt entirely different now that she didn't have Lyner beside her, with his childlike curiosity stirring up her interest in it as well. Instead, it just seemed slightly beautiful, but alien and incomprehensible. She tossed her hair around, and then realized that she was evading the real issue; she missed him, and missed him terribly. Without him, the world seemed completely empty.

Shurelia held her face in her hand and began to sob openly, with only the icy wind wisping through the garden to keep her company. Her heart clenched and so did her throat. "WHY?!? We couldn't he be the one! AM I GOING TO BE ALONE FOREVER!" She screamed into the night, unbuttoning her nightgown to feel the ice dance off her deadened, stiff body. The way the dark frozen sky swallowed her echo whole seemed to answer her question affirmatively.

She had waited hundreds of years to explore the concept of love with another, and each time she made an effort, they always brushed her off. But Lyner was so close, yet…something went wrong somewhere along the way. "Aurica and Misha," she said with gritted teeth. "They're the ones who ruined him for me! They're the ones to blame, not Lyner."

Shurelia noticed a bowl of testicles on the nearby marble railing, so she approached it and chewed one in half, the juice exploding out into the air, freezing as it flew down.

"After tonight…I shall never try again," Shurelia whispered. "Once the mission is finished…then I must find peace in the only way I know possible." That said, she lay down nude in the grass and curled up, whimpering herself to sleep.

* * *

(The next morning) 

Lyner struggled awake to the smell of sweet orange blossoms, and smiled as he stretched. Deciding to try and test out the strength of his legs again, he stood up without much difficulty, and got dressed, hoping he hadn't keep his friends waiting too long.

His emotions were still shattered, and he didn't really know what to do about Shurelia. He breathed and ran through her rant in his mind as he got dressed. Deciding there was no hope for it at the moment, he re-sheathed his gilded sword and walked over to the door.

On the other side stood Father Cupley. "Oh, hello!" Lyner said with a forced smile. "You must be Father Cupley!"

"Yes, yes son! And you must be the leader of your fine group of friends!" the monk said, shaking his hand.

"That's me," Lyner chuckled. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, yes, your friends have all gathered in our mess hall. Are you ready to go to them?"

Lyner gulped but assented, not wanting them to wait for him. He had a mission, and he was not about to divert from it due to personal matters. So Lyner followed Cupley into a small, quaint room with a long brown dining table, already peopled by his friends.

"Hello Lyner!!!" Everyone said cheerfully but Vincent, Tulip, and Shurelia.

"Hey! Don't worry, I'm not going to try to kill any of you…yet!" he said, making a weak stab at a joke that nobody laughed at. Deciding that this was a good time to pretend like he didn't exist, he tiptoed over to the final empty seat, right next to Ayatane and across from Misha. He raised his eyebrows significantly at them and they smiled warmly.

Ayatane draped his arm around his buddy's frame. "So are you back, man? We had a lot of close calls with you!"

"Yeah, I'm back," Lyner said, smiling weakly. The chef handed him a steamed omelet on a platter, and Lyner mumbled his thanks and proceed to push the eggs around on his plate with his fork.

"…You don't seem alright, are you sure you're feeling better?" Misha asked him sweetly.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm just tired." Lyner sighed and took a bite of the egg, and then winced and pulled something out – a testicle. He stared at this. "Okay…_what _is this?!?"

"Lyner, it's a…well, there's no other way to put this, so, um…it's another man's sack package," Ayatane whispered.

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! WHAT KIND OF A SICK MESSED UP PLACE IS THIS?!?!" Lyner screamed all of a sudden, and proceeded to spit in his plate over and over again.

Misha met Ayatane's eyes amusedly and the two started to laugh from deep within their bellies, and the laughter carried on all the way down the table (excluding the three somber heroes I mentioned earlier).

* * *

After this incident, Lyner made sure to hastily get the heroes out of it before one of them found themselves castrated. Father Cupley was confused at their aversion to eating nuts, but he regardless had the good grace to lead them to a trapdoor exit in the gardens that led to the final, icy tundras of the Frozen Bluffs. 

"I can't wait to get out of this frickin' frozen place!" Lyner said brightly. He had suddenly found an unbidden spurt of renewed energy, which was bolstered by the fact that they didn't have to walk down this part of the tower; they only had to slide over the ice.

"Lyner, can't we take a break?" Luke asked from behind. "Some of the girls are getting tired."

Lyner looked back and saw that Misha, Vincent, Aurica, and Mahine were all straggling far behind the rest of the group. "Heh heh, Vincent's not a girl, stupid!" He paused. "Actually, on second thought…"

"So are we gonna take a break or not?!" Shurelia said bitingly from within her Linkage armor, clearly struggling to keep her impatience in check.

Lyner shrugged. "I guess…but it's gonna be hard to set up camp while we're still on this ice…it might be better to get to the steel sector beyond it."

"That makes sense!" Jack said, peering off down the tower. After Vincent caught up, Jack asked, "So how close are we to Tethys, kid?"

The scientist analyzed his Quiad detector. "As a matter of fact…I am getting a weak signal much farther down the tower." He looked up. "It's the fifth Quiad, so it's gotta be Tethys."

"…How big is this freaking tower anyway?" Jack muttered.

"So how many days did Father Cupley say we had until we reached that huge city, again?" Ayatane asked, his lilac hair billowing elegantly in the snowy wind.

"Just five days if we keep up the pace," Lyner said, remembering the Father's parting warning about the rampant hedonism in Yewer City; would it be dangerous for the girls, or was he just being too religious?

"Wow, that's some twirly ice," Aurica said, running her eyes over the monolithic swirls of ice before them. "Why does it do that?"

"Well, it's the magnetism of this area, of course," Everyone looked at him blankly. "What? You don't know? This part of the tower is actually spinning very fast in mid-air, although we can't feel it. This causes a great amount of magnetic attraction in this area. Which is why," he said, nodding to Luke. "I imagine it's called the Magnzone."

"He's right, I think," the seaslug man squealed. "This is the only part of the tower where you can actually walk straight down, due to the rampant magnetism."

"Wait, wait, wait," Lyner stopped them. "So you mean to say we're actually walking vertically instead of horizontally right now?" The scientists nodded. "Wow!" Lyner said. "I'd always imagined being able to walk on ceilings and walls, but I never imagined it was actually possible."

Vincent cleared his throat loudly. "Let's keep moving, shall we?" He continued to skate in front of the party, with Mahine rushing to catch up with him.

"I'm tired, Lyner," Aurica whispered, coming up next to him and hugging his arm.

"Don't worry, Aurica. I'll carry you if you fall," he whispered back.

"_Really?!?_" she said with glee, and barely held herself back from falling on purpose (that would definitely make her lose points with him).

* * *

In an hour or so, the heroes stoically traversed the dead realm of ice, and finally arrived at the Magnzone border. From the top of the final wall of ice, the heroes could see hundreds of small settlements throughout the pulsating steel ground. 

"Wow, this is like a full-on region!" Misha grinned at the people working in their yards and small farms.

"Your chest is a full-on region!" Jack said, suddenly appearing behind her and causing her to jump.

"HARM!? Why are you being like this?" Misha said, folding her arms so he couldn't see her breasts.

"Look, sorry. It was just a joke," Jack shrugged.

"Listen Harm, I like you as a friend, and that's it!"

"Alright, alright, I meant no offense!"

"Are you done?" Shurelia snapped from the front. "Let's go hurry and make camp somewhere!"

"Yep, all done!" Jack said with a smile, but tapped Misha on the shoulder as soon as she turned around. "What's she got up _her_ ass?"

"Well, it's not Lyner anymore," Misha smirked.

"What, really? So it's true?" Jack said, helping her find a safe route down the small ice cliff. "Well that's great for you, isn't it? Now he's all but yours!"

Misha nodded enthusiastically. "I know! I'm so excited. Tonight, I'll…well, I'll think of some way to get him!"

"I'm sure you will!" Jack said with a laugh.

She looked at him and gave him a big hug. "Thanks Harm! You're an awesome friend!"

Jack held her tightly too, but was careful to not overdo it. "Yeah, I'll always be looking out for you, don't worry."

As she walked away in front of him, his smile faded, however. 'Isn't she over Lyner yet? Maybe other guys dig her too, you know?' Jack thought to himself and stepped on, mulling over his thoughts. Lyner's break up with Shurelia was something that didn't just affect those two, but in a little bit it might have the potential to tear the entire party apart.

* * *

Lyner and Shurelia found themselves together at the front of the caravan, and under the umbrella of their very own awkward silence. "So…" Shurelia said. "I think I may have…overreacted last night, you know?" 

"Nah, forget about it," Lyner said, shaking his head. "It was for the best, I think."

"Y-yeah, it was definitely for the best," Shurelia said, her voice cracking. "But I'm still sorry that it had to end like that."

Lyner looked at her with a steely expression, and grunted noncommittally.

Shurelia waited for him to go on, and just said, "This is going to be really weird now, isn't it? It'll be like how it was when I watched you grow up, but I couldn't make a move on you!"

He laughed. "True, except now, neither of us likes each other."

"Yeah…" she said, her voice trailing off. "But I just think you should know, I didn't mean a lot of those things I said."

"Well, you know, I'd _hope_ I'd be a better first mate than his Majesty the Emperor," Lyner quipped.

"Just sh-shut up about that, okay?" Shurelia said, suddenly angry. She huffed and stalked off towards a house.

"Shurelia?" Lyner asked skeptically, eyeing her cute butt as she walked.

Ayatane stopped too. "That was really weird. Is she, like, on her period or something?"

Lyner shrugged. "Beats me. Incidentally, do Reyvateils even have periods?"

"No idea, man," Ayatane shook his head.

Lyner grabbed Misha and pulled her out of the crowd. "Hey, do Reyvateils have periods?"

"Why yes we do, actually," Misha said, smirking at him.

"Oh really? Well, watch out for Shurelia, she's PMS-ing really bad today."

Misha saluted him. "Yes, sir."

"Very good soldier. Carry on," Lyner said, waving her on with a wink, which Misha enthusiastically returned. He watched the caravan follow Shurelia to some farmhouse and leaned to Ayatane. "WHY are we going to a farmhouse?"

"NO idea, man."

Up at the house, Shurelia walked up to a man with a giant red axe. "Hello sir, how are y-EEK!" she screamed when the farmer brought down the axe on his chicken's head, sending a geyser of blood out of the cut.

"Sorry bout that, missy. What can I do ya for?" he said, wiping the blood off his face.

"Well, my friends and I were wondering if there were any inns or anything around here."

"Nope, no inns, just good ole-fashioned homesteads. You just passin' through?"

"Yes sir, we are headed for Yewer City."

The farmer laughed. "What for? You'll jest lose all yer leaf and be stuck in that city tryin' to win it back for the rest of yer life. Which may be a good or a bad thing, depenin…"

Shurelia raised her eyebrows. "Depending on what?"

He sneered. "If yer a lesbo or not, o' course! Everyone knows that city's more queer than straight, and that's no lie." He leaned forward. "Matter 'o fact, the queens themselves are lovers!"

"Oh really? Wow, that sounds…different," Shurelia smiled, revealing her perfect teeth.

"Yeah, you know what? We here in the Magnzone are the only normal folk on this whole tower! Up top ye got the monks and yetis, and down there ye got queers and the Double-Headed Yokkernauts."

"Double-Headed Yokkernauts? Why does that ring such a bell?" Jack said, stroking his chin in reflection.

"The severed serpent," Vincent said. "Remember, they're the ones who stole that relic from Nervocelambra that we promised to go get back."

"But listen y'all, Yewer City ain't nothing but a trap," the farmer said. "I like a little somethin-somethin just as much as the next guy, but the people there, they cater directly to yer wants and s---, you know what I'm saying? Before ya know it, all you and yer friends'll be thinkin' about is how next to get their jollies off! I tell ya, that's the problem with their society. They never think nothin' bout no one but themselves!"

"Ohh, that's so sad," Aurica said. "I hope I never get like that."

Radolf blinked and looked at her. "What are you talking about? When do you not think of yourself?"

She laughed and slapped him on the arm. "Shut up!" He smiled down at her; had actually made her laugh! That hadn't happened in…who knows how long? He felt a sudden rush of attraction to her, and was only jarred from his thoughts when he heard a sound like a door in front of them.

A door opened in the farmstead, and a lovely woman with an amazing top came bouncing out, drawing the eyes of all the men but Lyner, who didn't notice.

"Wow, I love the Magnzone!" Jack said with a whimper.

"Yeah, ain't it great?" the farmer smiled looking dreamily out at the landscape behind them. He looked up and saw his wife next to him. "Oh, hey honey! I'm just talkin' to these here folks."

"_And_ yer tellin' them the wrong thing!" the lady said, and looked in earnest at them. "The reason Yewer City's so delinquent is because they're currently at war with the Kingdom of Malebolge, and it's taking the toll on their resources and their morale. _That's_ why they all place such a high stake on pleasure and all, cuz they could drop dead the next thing they know!"

"Oh, so they're at war?" Shurelia asked. "How long has that been going on?"

The farmer rolled his lips. "Ever since Yewer City was erected outta the ground, is all! They've been skirmishing across the Bloody Border since the beginning!"

Jack broke down into laughter from the back all of a sudden, and said to the eyes that turned to him, "Don't mind me guys, I just couldn't help it."

"What's up?" Misha whispered as the farmers continued to spew their opinions.

"He said 'erected,' how awesome is that! No one uses that word anymore, and for good reason!" Jack snickered.

"True, he did say it," Misha said with an exaggerated roll of the eyes.

"Hey, I saw you talk to Lyner. What'd he say?"

"Well, he pretty much told me he loves me and wants to have 25 babies with me!" Misha said with a wink. "Which would, cough hurt, but it'd be worth it, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely! It would totally be worth it!" Jack said. "That way, if you ever accidentally stepped on one, no harm done, since there's 24 other ones!"

Misha broke out laughing now, and nudged him as punishment. "You're retarted."

* * *

After hiking a sufficient way past the first group of settlements, Lyner and the party decided to call it a day, and pulled out the tents. Aurica and Misha talked pleasantly with everyone for a while before reading each others' minds and nodding to each other. 

"Me and Misha have to go…take care of something," Aurica said, standing up.

"Yep, see ya later!" Misha supplied, and they walked far away from the campfire, leaving everyone else to make their own plans for the next day.

In between two tents, they both broke out into a high-pitched squeal. "I can't believe it! I can't believe this is actually happening!!" Misha cheered.

"I know!! He's finally ours for the taking!" Aurica hooted, and they hugged each other in excitement.

"So, do you remember that crazy plan we came up with that one time?"

"Of course! So now we move on to step two, right?"

"Yep!" Misha said eagerly. "Okay, so do you think tonight we should make him choose between one of us?"

"Oh yeah, totally! I don't think I could wait any longer!" Aurica gushed. "So what should we do?"

"Hmm…" Misha considered. "What if…we wait until he's in bed…"

"And THEN…we take turns seducing him!!" Aurica cried, erupting into a giggle attack.

"Or whatever," Misha said quickly. "For just five minutes each. And then he gets to pick one!"

"Oh yeah, this'll be so amazing!" Aurica said, hugging her rival again. "So how do we decide who goes first?!"

"Rock-paper-scissors?" Misha suggested with pursed lips.

"Definitely. You're totally going down."

* * *

Lyner couldn't stand the thick tension between him and Shurelia any longer than necessary, so he slipped away to his tent as soon as possible. The Magnzone was substantially warmer than the icy climate they had just escaped from, and he was very thankful. 

He peeled off his shirt, and ran his hand down his wet chest. "Sweat, I love you," he said with a half smile, and then sat down on his sleeping bag. He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his pants before crawling under the flap, exhaling mightily. He looked at the empty space next to him, and suddenly felt a quiver in his throat. Sleeping here suddenly didn't feel right when Shurelia was gone.

"Dammit," he whispered, running hand through his hair. He doubted very much he'd get to sleep tonight if there wasn't anyone in the bed with him; he was still too emotionally vulnerable to handle that. "What's a guy to do?" he muttered, lying back down. "Guess I'll just have to get used to it for a while."

"Hey, what's up?" Misha's voice suddenly appeared in his room, and he shot straight up. Misha Arsellic Lune was stooping through his door, wearing her clairvoyant China Dress.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" he asked, shocked at her prompt arrival. 'Wow, I was just thinking about her, too…' he thought.

"Well…I was wondering if you wanted to snuggle or something, but if this is a bad time then I can just…"

"Oh no no no no no no no no!" Lyner said, jumping out of bed and opening the flap for her. "Please, come join me, Misha!"

She blushed. "Oh really? Can I?"

"Um, YES! Come on!"

"Okay, if you say so," Misha smiled, although she was doing jumping jacks of joy inside. She slid across the bag and crawled in, running her eyes over his flawless, sturdy body as she lay down. She had never seen him this close to naked before – he was just in a pair of too-small, patterned brown boxers. "I'm pretty sure there's enough room for you in here too," she said breathlessly. 'Oh my god, I am so horny right now! Misha, don't blow this,' she told herself.

"Yep," Lyner laughed, climbing in to join her. He slid all the way down her, and Misha got goosebumps of pleasure as she felt every part of him brush along.

She smiled at him and reminded him, "We haven't kissed in a while, Lyner." Her heart was beating so fast, she was sure he'd hear it.

He shrugged. "Yeah, you're right." So he leaned in and pulled her still-clothed body up to his rock-hard tan one, giving her the most tender make out session she had ever experienced. She moaned into his mouth as she stroked his tongue with her own, hoping to convey that feeling to her gracious host.

Once it ended, she found herself staring into his demonic orange eyes, but she could still see Lyner's clear innocence beneath the unnatural exterior. "Misha," he said. "I-I think I love you."

If Misha was excited before, now her heart was beating so fast it was on the verge of exploding. "REALLY?!? I love you too, more than life itself!" she spluttered out, regretting it as soon as the words burst from her lips. 'Ever heard of 'forward,' Misha?' she told herself off. 'It's not what we're going for here!'

Lyner laughed and pulled her close, keeping his hands on her satin-covered back. "Now that Shurelia's gone, I realized how trapped I had been. She was way too negative, and controlling, and…I dunno." He gazed at her violet eyes. "You're just so…loving, supportive, and well, a pleasure to be around. There's no one else I'd rather spend the night with than you."

Misha's hands were shaking. Every instinct in her body told her to go for it and screw him, but she smacked those feelings down as hard as she could, trying to soak her crush's words in. "We've known each other so long, Lyner," she said, not knowing where she was going with this, but hoping her subconscious was in working enough order to drive for a while. "And I've wanted to be in this position with you since, well, I don't know when! Like, I've dreamed of this for so long! This isn't a dream, is it?"

"Nope, no dream," he said, smiling awkwardly. "Okay! Time to go to sleep now!" he announced, and conked his head on the pillow, instantly going to sleep.

'There's no way he can go to sleep now that I'm this horny!!!' Misha thought to herself. She closed her eyes and changed to her Y costume, and pressed up to him, bare skin on bare skin. She looked at his perfect face with longing. 'He is, without a doubt, the hottest guy ever born. And, I've known him first out of all the girls. So there.' She tapped him on the bare shoulder and he stirred.

"Lyner, you know how we like to show our love through kissing?" she asked craftily.

"Y-yeah, there's no better way to show it," he said, blushing.

"Well…" Misha said, playing with herself to stay in control of her thoughts. "Some people say there are even better ways to consummate their love."

"What?! NO! No way. No sex!" Lyner said, glaring at her.

"Oh, please, Lyner!" Misha begged him. "You're the most amazing guy ever! Can't you just try for me, please?"

Lyner groaned and felt like gouging his eyes out. "Damn, I knew this would happen."

'Uh-oh!' Misha gulped, still shaking all over from nervousness and desire. She put her other arm around his neck and pulled him firmly close. "Look Lyner, just think of how good it feels to share our love through kissing! If we just go a little farther, think of how much more magical it would be!" She furrowed her brow in worry. 'Did I seriously just say "magical?" GOD! I'm definitely not helping!'

He shook his head, his blonde hair flourishing in the darkness. "Look; it's not just that I don't want to. I don't even know HOW to! I'll be completely in the dark, and I'll…look stupid," He muttered.

"Oh, no, I don't care!" Misha said, smiling at him and pecking him on the lips.

"But I really care! If there's one thing I don't want, it's looking stupid in front of you!"

"Here, I have an idea!" Misha said, smooching him again and taking her other hand out. She held his hands against her tummy. "Why don't you just sit back and relax. I'll do everything for you. And don't worry, if you _do_ do anything stupid, I won't hold it against you."

"Well…" Lyner breathed. "I just don't know. I mean, we're not even dating, and I went fifteen years without doing anything at ALL with Shurelia…it just feels wrong."

Misha shook her loose raven hair. "No, don't think about Shurelia. Just…" she hesitated. "Just think about this! She said, launching forward and making out with him again. Pleasure flooded through her body as she pressed up against Lyner, wanting to love him as well as she was capable. She ran her hands up and down his flawless chest, memorizing every chisel. 'I'm having the time of my life!' she thought to herself. 'I mean, I couldn't be more turned on if he went for it right now! But, he's not turned on at all! I've gotta think like a guy; what can I do to make him horny?!' She tried to think, but her mind was so thickly clouded with the static sensation of lust and pleasure that it was exceedingly difficult. Still licking his tongue like she was chugging it, she thought about what Jack was always going on about concerning women. 'Let's see…breasts was a big one. Let's see if I can pull this off!'

Misha pulled away from his welcoming mouth but continued to ram into him with her nude hips. She gulped and unbuttoned her shirt, looking at him with desire all the time; the last time she had tried this, he'd completely insulted her breasts and looked away. Hopefully this would be a _little _better.

After she unbuttoned it, she let them hang out and looked into his eyes for approval. "Lyner…I really do love you. And I want to show it. Please?"

His eyes weren't exactly overflowing with excitement, but they definitely weren't annoyed either. "I…I dunno," he said honestly.

"Here, let me…" she slid up to a sitting position on top of him, shaking off the dress shirt, smiling as she felt him get VERY horny under her. "Oh Lyner, you're SO hot!" she said, in amazement at her clear view of him under her.

"I…I really don't know what to say. But…" his eyes danced around furtively. "You're really hot too."

"Really?" she said with ecstasy.

He nodded, and suddenly realized he wanted to make out with her again. So he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her down for a kiss, which she gladly partook in. She remained seated, however, and unexpectedly began to slam into him again with her hips.

Pulling his mouth away from hers, he asked "Misha? What are you OH! Oh WOW! That feels good!" he said, his eyes suddenly lighting up with a sparky fire.

"I'm glad you like it!" she said, her voice sounding like naked desire. She arched her back up just a little in order to give him a better view of her top as she worked. They were dripping with sweat and she was bouncing as much as she could…so there wasn't much more she could do than that. After a moment or two she looked down at him with adoration to see that his expression was now one of pure bliss. Apparently Jack's endless obsession with breasts had a benefit after all. Lyner reached up and felt them tenderly. "Is it alright if I…if I do this?" he asked, his voice thick with a selfish eagerness unlike him.

She nodded vehemently, a moan escaping her lips as his boner increased even more, slipping along her tummy. "Please, whatever you do, don't stop!"

"Alright," he said, happy to comply. "You're the greatest Reyvateil ever, Misha!!"

She laughed and arched her back as a lightning bolt of pleasure cannonballed up her body from her nether regions. "Ohhhh, my God!"

Suddenly, a towel-clad Aurica stepped in. "Hey guys! My turn."

Misha spun around and glared daggers at her. "Are you serious?!? NOW?!?"

The Reyvateil nodded, bright excitement decorating her features and Misha sighed, turning back to Lyner. "I love you SOO much!" she purred, leaning down to his lips and making out with him one last time. She stood up, twirled around to don Shinobi, and walked out of the room, her lower portions and throat still yearning for more. She looked back at Lyner one last time and was pleased to see his eyes were still on her and not Aurica.

Once she left the tent, Misha hugged herself in glee. She was no expert, but it seemed like she had done a pretty good job. Satisfied with her performance, she immediately started counting Aurica's five minutes in her head, and hung around outside the tent to listen in.

* * *

A/N: Hey people!!! Sorry about the obscene length on this one! Wow! Over 7000?! I know some people don't like length, so I apologize. I, for one, adore long chapters, just as long as there's no filler. , 

p.s. you know you wanna review!


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